Shloka 18

Devanagari script

तस्माद्‌ यद्‌ देवकीपुत्र उत्तवानुत्तमं वच: । असंशयं ते तद्‌ भावि क्षत्रधर्मस्त्वया55श्रित:

Transliteration

tasmād yad devakīputra uttavānuttamaṃ vacaḥ | asaṃśayaṃ te tad bhāvi kṣatradharmas tvayā śritaḥ ||

Translation

Ainsi, ô fils de Devakī, les paroles excellentes que tu as prononcées s’accompliront à coup sûr. Sans aucun doute, tu t’es réfugié dans le dharma du kṣatriya—la loi du guerrier, qui exige fermeté de résolution, protection, et les rudes nécessités du combat.

Word by Word

तस्मात्therefore/from that

यत्that which

देवकीपुत्रःDevakī's son (Kṛṣṇa)

उत्तवान्having said/said

अनुत्तमम्unsurpassed, excellent

वचःword, speech

असंशयम्undoubtedly

तेto you/for you (or: of you)

तत्that

भाविto be, destined to happen

क्षत्रधर्मःthe duty of a kṣatriya

त्वयाby you

आश्रितःresorted to, adopted

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vyāsa

Devakī

Kṛṣṇa

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse affirms that steadfast adherence to kṣatriya-dharma—speaking and acting with warriorly resolve and responsibility—has consequences that will certainly manifest; righteous commitment makes one’s declared course effectively inevitable.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vyāsa addresses Kṛṣṇa (called Devakīputra), validating Kṛṣṇa’s prior statement as ‘unsurpassed’ and declaring that it will surely come true, because Kṛṣṇa has embraced the path and obligations of kṣatriya-dharma in the unfolding post-war events of the Sauptika Parva.