Shloka 47
Jarā’s Account and the Enthronement of Jarāsandha (जरासंधोत्पत्तिः अभिषेकश्च)
नाहामि विषये राज्ञो वसन्ती पुत्रगृद्धिन: । बालं पुत्रमिमं हन्तुं धार्मिकस्य महात्मन:
nāhāmi viṣaye rājño vasantī putragṛddhinaḥ | bālaṃ putram imaṃ hantuṃ dhārmikasya mahātmanaḥ ||
«Puisque je vis dans le domaine de ce roi et que je vois son désir d’un fils, je ne tiens pas pour juste de tuer cet enfant, le jeune fils d’un souverain vertueux et au cœur noble.»
श्रीकृष्ण उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even one inclined to harm recognizes a boundary set by dharma: it is unethical to kill an innocent child, especially the offspring of a righteous king; moral restraint is upheld as a higher law than impulse.
A rākṣasī, living in the king’s realm, sees the king’s yearning for a son and the vulnerability of the child; she reasons that killing the boy would be improper and refrains, grounding her decision in the king’s righteousness and the ethical weight of the act.