Shloka 13
साम्ब-हरणम्, बलदेवस्य रोषः, हस्तिनापुर-आकर्षणम्
भो भोः किम् एतद् भवता बलभद्रेरितं वचः आज्ञां कुरुकुलोत्थानां यादवः कः प्रदास्यति
bho bhoḥ kim etad bhavatā balabhadreritaṃ vacaḥ ājñāṃ kurukulotthānāṃ yādavaḥ kaḥ pradāsyati
“Ho! Ho! What is this speech you utter—words set in motion by Balabhadra? What Yādava would ever submit to the command of those born of the Kuru line?”
A Yadava spokesman/warrior (addressing another party in the Yadava–Kuru dispute; narrated within Parasara’s account to Maitreya)
Speaker: Parasara
Teaching: Historical
Quality: authoritative
Concept: When authority is asserted without righteousness, it is met with resistance and becomes a catalyst for wider disorder.
Vedantic Theme: Dharma
Application: Before demanding compliance, examine legitimacy, fairness, and mutual respect; de-escalate by removing insults from speech.
Vishishtadvaita: Social authority is meaningful only as a limb of the Lord’s order (niyati); coercive pride severs it from its dharmic root.
Vishnu Form: Hari
FAQs
This verse frames a key political-theological tension: dynastic pride and royal command are contested, revealing how worldly sovereignty is unstable and often subordinated—implicitly—to the higher order that Vishnu ultimately governs.
Balabhadra is shown as a forceful instigator and participant in Yadava affairs; his influence can intensify disputes, highlighting the potency of Krishna’s immediate circle in shaping historical outcomes.
Within the Purana’s Krishna narrative, conflicts of command and lineage unfold under Vishnu’s supreme providence—suggesting that dynastic power struggles are instruments within a larger divine ordering of dharma and history.