Shloka 19
अर्हणनिर्णयः
Decision on the Highest Honor at the Assembly
अहो बत महद्धूतं स्वयंभूर्यदिदं स्वयम् । आदास्यति पुन: क्षत्रमेवं बलसमन्वितम्,“अहो! ये स्वयम्भू महाविष्णु ऐसे बलसम्पन्न क्षत्रियसमुदायको पुनः उच्छिन्न करना चाहते हैं!
aho bata mahad dhūtaṁ svayambhūr yad idaṁ svayam | ādāsyati punaḥ kṣatram evaṁ balasamanvitam ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “Alas—what a grave portent this is, that the Self-born Lord Himself seems poised to take away once again the very order of kṣatriyas, even though they are endowed with such strength.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
When power becomes ethically unmoored, even great strength cannot secure legitimacy; the verse frames the crisis as a moral and cosmic warning, implying that the preservation of kṣatriya authority depends on dharma, not merely on force.
The narrator reacts to events as a dire omen, suggesting that the divine order itself is moving toward the removal or curtailment of the kṣatriya establishment—hinting at an impending upheaval brought on by the conduct of rulers and the unfolding of fate.