Shloka 423
अलंबलवधः (Alaṃbala-vadhaḥ) / The Slaying of Alaṃbala and the Advance toward Karṇa
मानवा वापि जेतार: कृष्णयो: सन्ति केचन । राजन! वे जनार्दन भूत और भविष्य दोनों कालोंको जानते हैं। इसीलिये उन्होंने अपने सारथि दारुकको बुलाकर पहले ही दिन यह आज्ञा दे दी थी कि कल सबेरेसे ही मेरा रथ जोतकर तैयार रखना। महाराज! श्रीकृष्णका बल महान् है। श्रीकृष्ण और अर्जुनको परास्त करनेवाले न तो कोई देवता हैं, न गन्धर्व हैं, न यक्ष, नाग तथा राक्षस हैं और न मनुष्य ही हैं
mānavā vāpi jetāraḥ kṛṣṇayoḥ santi kecana | rājan! te janārdana bhūtaṃ ca bhaviṣyaṃ ca kālau jānanti | tasmāt te sārathiṃ dārukaṃ āhūya pūrvaṃ eva dine etad ājñāṃ dadau—śvaḥ prabhātād eva mama rathaṃ yojayitvā sajjaṃ tiṣṭhatu iti | mahārāja! śrīkṛṣṇasya balaṃ mahān | śrīkṛṣṇaṃ cārjunaṃ ca parājayituṃ na devāḥ, na gandharvāḥ, na yakṣāḥ, na nāgāḥ, na rākṣasāḥ, na ca mānavāḥ samarthāḥ |
Sañjaya said: “O King, there may be some men who claim they can conquer Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna. But Janārdana knows both what has been and what is yet to come. Therefore, having summoned his charioteer Dāruka, he had already given this command the previous day: ‘At dawn tomorrow, yoke my chariot and keep it ready.’ O great king, Kṛṣṇa’s power is immense. None—neither gods, nor Gandharvas, nor Yakṣas, nor Nāgas, nor Rākṣasas, nor even men—are capable of defeating Śrī Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage emphasizes divine foresight and preparedness: Kṛṣṇa, who knows past and future, acts with deliberate readiness. It also asserts the moral and cosmic assurance that those aligned with dharma—here Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna—are beyond the defeating power of ordinary and even many supernatural beings.
Sañjaya reassures the king by describing Kṛṣṇa’s prior command to his charioteer Dāruka to have the chariot ready at dawn, indicating strategic anticipation. He then declares that no class of beings—divine, semi-divine, or human—can truly overcome Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna.