Shloka 11
Dyūta-doṣa-prakāśana — Kṛṣṇa’s Critique of Gambling and the Exile Crisis
क्वासौ क्वासाविति पुनस्तत्र तत्र प्रधावति । मया किल रणे योद्धुं काड्क्षमाण: स सौभराट्,सौभविमानका स्वामी शाल्व संग्रामभूमिमें मेरे साथ युद्धकी इच्छा रखकर चारों ओर दौड़ता और सबसे यही पूछता था कि “वह कहाँ है, कहाँ है?”
kvāsau kvāsāv iti punas tatra tatra pradhāvati | mayā kila raṇe yoddhuṁ kāṅkṣamāṇaḥ sa saubharāṭ, saubhavimānakā svāmī śālvaḥ saṅgrāmabhūmau me saha yuddhecchayā sarvato dhāvati sma, sarvān pṛcchati ca—“sa kutra? sa kutra?” iti |
Again and again he rushed about here and there, crying, “Where is he, where is he?” Longing to fight with me in battle, Śālva—the lord of the Saubha aerial city—ran all around the battlefield, asking everyone the same question, driven on by warlike resolve and pride.
श्रीकृष्ण उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how pride and fixation on confrontation can drive a person into restless, aggressive pursuit. In the ethical frame of the epic, martial desire without discernment becomes a sign of delusion and overconfidence, even when expressed as heroic challenge.
Śrī Kṛṣṇa describes Śālva on the battlefield: as the lord of the Saubha aerial city, Śālva darts about searching for Kṛṣṇa, repeatedly calling out “Where is he?” and questioning others, eager to engage Kṛṣṇa in direct combat.