Shloka 63
Samrāt-Lakṣaṇa and the Counsel to Check Jarāsandha (सम्राट्-लक्षणं जरासन्ध-प्रतिबाधा-परामर्शः)
तेन रुद्धा हि राजान: सर्वे जित्वा गिरिव्रजे । कन्दरे पर्वतेन्द्रस्य सिंहेनेव महाद्विपा:
tena ruddhā hi rājānaḥ sarve jitvā Girivraje | kandare parvatendrasya siṃheneva mahādvipāḥ ||
उसने सब राजाओं को जीतकर गिरिव्रज में इस प्रकार बन्दी बना रखा है, मानो पर्वतराज की गुफा में सिंह ने महान्-महान् गजराजों को रोक रखा हो।
श्रीकृष्ण उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical wrong of tyrannical conquest: true kṣatriya power should uphold dharma, not reduce fellow rulers to caged captives. The simile of a lion confining elephants stresses both the imbalance of force and the disgrace inflicted on the defeated.
Śrīkṛṣṇa describes how a powerful ruler has defeated many kings and is holding them imprisoned at Girivraja, likening their confinement to great elephants trapped in a mountain cave by a lion.