Shloka 10

मārkaṇḍeya-ukta yuddha-vyūha-pratyavyūhaḥ

Battle Formations and Countermeasures in the Rāmopākhyāna

Devanagari script

जयद्रथ उवाच जानामि कृष्णे विदितं ममैतद्‌ यथाविधास्ते नरदेवपुत्रा: । न त्वेवमेतेन विभीषणेन शक्या वयं त्रासयितुं त्वयाद्य,जयद्रथने कहा--कृष्णे! मैं जानता हूँ कि तुम्हारे पति राजकुमार पाण्डव कैसे हैं? मुझे ये सब बातें मालूम हैं। परंतु इस समय इस विभीषिकाद्वारा तुम हमें डरा नहीं सकती

Transliteration

jayadratha uvāca | jānāmi kṛṣṇe viditaṃ mamaitad yathāvidhās te naradevaputrāḥ | na tvevam etena vibhīṣaṇena śakyā vayaṃ trāsayituṃ tvayādya ||

Translation

Jayadratha said: “O Kṛṣṇā, I know this well; it is already known to me what sort of princes those sons of the king are. Yet today you cannot frighten us by such a threat or terror.”

Word by Word

• {'jayadratha uvāca': 'Jayadratha said', 'kṛṣṇe (voc.)': 'O Kṛṣṇā (Draupadī), the dark-complexioned lady', 'jānāmi': 'I know', 'viditam': 'known, ascertained', 'mama': 'to me, for me', 'etat': 'this', 'yathā-vidhāḥ': 'of what kind/nature, as they are', 'te': 'those, your (in context: your husbands)', 'naradeva-putrāḥ': 'sons of the king (lit. ‘sons of the god among men’)', 'na tu eva': 'but not indeed / however not', 'etena': 'by this', 'vibhīṣaṇena': 'by a frightful threat/terror (instrumental)', 'śakyāḥ': 'possible, able (to be done)', 'vayam': 'we', 'trāsayitum': 'to frighten, to terrify', 'tvayā': 'by you', 'adya': 'today, now'}

Speaker

जयद्रथ उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Jayadratha
• Kṛṣṇā (Draupadī)
• Pāṇḍavas (implied as naradevaputrāḥ)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the ethical contrast between mere bravado and true strength: intimidation and dismissive speech toward a vulnerable person (here, Draupadī) reflects adharma, while the narrative sets up the consequences of arrogance and disrespect.

What is happening in the narrative?

Jayadratha addresses Draupadī during the forest episode, claiming he already knows the prowess of her husbands (the Pāṇḍavas) and asserting that she cannot scare him and his party with threats—an expression of overconfidence that foreshadows his impending humiliation and punishment.