Shloka 41
एष तिष्ठति गोविन्द: पूजितो<स्माभिरच्युत: । यस्य वस्त्वरते बुद्धिर्मरणाय स माधवम्,“हमने जिनकी पूजा की है, अपनी महिमासे कभी च्युत न होनेवाले वे भगवान् गोविन्द तुमलोगोंके सामने मौजूद हैं। तुमलोगोंमेंसे जिसकी बुद्धि मृत्युका आलिंगन करनेके लिये उतावली हो रही हो, वह इन्हीं यदुकुल-तिलक चक्रगदाधर श्रीकृष्णको आज युद्धके लिये ललकारे और इनके हाथों मारा जाकर इन्हीं भगवानके शरीरमें प्रविष्ट हो जाय”
eṣa tiṣṭhati govindaḥ pūjito 'smābhir acyutaḥ | yasya vastv-arate buddhir maraṇāya sa mādhavam ||
Vaiśaṃpāyana said: “Here stands Govinda—Acyuta—whom we have duly honored. Whoever among you has a mind eager for the ‘real thing’—for death itself—let him challenge Mādhava today for battle; slain by His hand, he will enter into the very body of that Lord.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames Kṛṣṇa as the honored, unfailing Lord whose very presence tests intention: one who truly seeks the ultimate (even through death) may confront Him, and death at His hand is portrayed not as mere defeat but as a spiritually consequential end—‘entering’ the Lord—highlighting devotion, surrender, and the idea that contact with the divine transforms even violent outcomes.
Vaiśaṃpāyana points out that Govinda (Kṛṣṇa) is present and has been honored; he then issues a provocative invitation: anyone whose resolve is set on death should challenge Kṛṣṇa to battle, implying that such a challenger would be slain by Kṛṣṇa and attain an extraordinary post-mortem union/entry into Him.