Shloka 12
मārkaṇḍeya-ukta yuddha-vyūha-pratyavyūhaḥ
Battle Formations and Countermeasures in the Rāmopākhyāna
सा क्षिप्रमातिष्ठ गजं रथं वा न वाक्यमात्रेण वयं हि शक््या: । आशंस वा त्वं कृपणं वदन्ती सौवीरराजस्य पुन: प्रसादम्,कृष्णे! तुम बड़ी-बड़ी बातें बनाकर हमें रोक नहीं सकती। अब तुम्हारे सामने दो ही मार्ग हैं--या तो सीधी तरहसे तुरंत चलकर मेरे हाथी या रथपर सवार हो जाओ; अथवा पाण्डवोंके हार जानेपर दीन वाणीमें विलाप करती हुई सौवीरराज जयद्रथसे कृपाकी भीख माँगो
sā kṣipram ātiṣṭha gajaṁ rathaṁ vā na vākyamātreṇa vayaṁ hi śakyāḥ | āśaṁsa vā tvaṁ kṛpaṇaṁ vadantī sauvīrarājasya punaḥ prasādam, kṛṣṇe ||
Jayadratha said: “Mount at once—either my elephant or my chariot. We are not to be restrained by mere words. Otherwise, O Kṛṣṇā, when the Pāṇḍavas are defeated, you may beg again for the favor of the king of Sauvīra, speaking in a wretched, pleading voice.”
जयद्रथ उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights adharma through coercion and arrogance: power that dismisses reasoned speech and seeks to force consent is ethically corrupt, and it foreshadows the moral and karmic consequences that follow such violations of honor and autonomy.
Jayadratha confronts Draupadī during the forest exile episode and tries to compel her to ride his elephant or chariot. He rejects her verbal resistance and threatens that after the Pāṇḍavas are defeated she will have to plead for his favor—an intimidation meant to break her resolve.