Shloka 7

Samrāt-Lakṣaṇa and the Counsel to Check Jarāsandha (सम्राट्-लक्षणं जरासन्ध-प्रतिबाधा-परामर्शः)

Devanagari script

इदानीमेव वै राजन्‌ जरासंधो महीपति:

Transliteration

idānīm eva vai rājan jarāsandho mahīpatiḥ | rājan! abhī-abhī bhūpāla jarāsandhaḥ samasta-kṣatriya-kulānāṃ rāja-lakṣmīṃ lāṅghayitvā rājabhiḥ samrāṭ-pade 'bhiṣiktaḥ | sa ca sva-bala-parākramena sarvān ākrāmya sarveṣāṃ rājñāṃ śirasi sthita iva bhavati |

Translation

Ô roi, à l’instant même Jarāsandha, seigneur de la terre, a été consacré par d’autres rois au rang d’empereur, foulant aux pieds la fortune royale et la préséance de toutes les lignées kṣatriya. S’appuyant sur sa seule force et sa vaillance, il fait peser sa puissance sur tous et devient, pour ainsi dire, le premier des souverains — une ascension dont l’ambition menace l’équilibre de la royauté légitime.

Word by Word

• इदानीम्: now
• इदानीम्: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इदानीम्
• Form: Avyaya

• एव: indeed/just
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव
• Form: Avyaya

• वै: indeed (emphatic particle)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: वै
• Form: Avyaya

• राजन्: O king
• Type: Noun
• Root: राजन्
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• जरासन्धः: Jarasandha
• जरासन्धः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: जरासन्ध
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• महीपतिः: lord of the earth/king
• महीपतिः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: महीपति
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

श्रीकृष्ण उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Śrīkṛṣṇa
• Jarāsandha
• Rājan (the addressed king, i.e., Yudhiṣṭhira in context)
• Kṣatriya lineages
• Other kings (rājānaḥ)
• Samrāṭ (imperial status/office)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how sheer power and political endorsement can elevate a ruler to imperial status even when it disregards rightful precedence (rāja-lakṣmī) of other Kṣatriya houses—raising an ethical question about legitimacy, restraint, and the dharmic limits of ambition.

What is happening in the narrative?

Kṛṣṇa informs the king that Jarāsandha has just been anointed as an emperor by other rulers and is now aggressively asserting dominance over all, positioning himself as the foremost among kings and thereby becoming a major political-military threat.