Shloka 3

Dyūta-doṣa-prakāśana — Kṛṣṇa’s Critique of Gambling and the Exile Crisis

Devanagari script

महातेजा महाबाहुर्यः स राजा महायशा: । दमघोषात्मजो वीर: शिशुपालो मया हतः,श्रीकृष्णने कहा--भरतवंशशिरोमणे! कुरुकुलभूषण! मैं उन दिनों शाल्वके सौभ नामक नगराकार विमानको नष्ट करनेके लिये गया हुआ था। इसका क्या कारण था, वह बतलाता हूँ, सुनिये। भरतश्रेष्ठी आपके राजसूययज्ञमें अग्रपूजाके प्रश्नको लेकर जो क्रोधके वशीभूत हो इस कार्यको नहीं सह सका था और इसीलिये जिस दुरात्मा, महातेजस्वी, महाबाहु एवं महायशस्वी दमघोषनन्दन वीर राजा शिशुपालको मैंने मार डाला था; उसकी मृत्युका समाचार सुनकर शाल्व प्रचण्ड रोषसे भर गया। भारत! मैं तो यहाँ हस्तिनापुरमें था और वह हमलोगोंसे सूनी द्वारकापुरीमें जा पहुँचा

Transliteration

mahātejā mahābāhur yaḥ sa rājā mahāyaśāḥ | damaghoṣātmajo vīraḥ śiśupālo mayā hataḥ ||

Translation

Śrī Kṛṣṇa said: “That heroic king Śiśupāla—son of Damaghoṣa—was a man of great splendor, mighty arms, and wide renown; I slew him. (From that act and its consequences the next conflict arose.)”

Word by Word

महातेजाःvery radiant/mighty

महाबाहुःmighty-armed

यःwho

सःthat/he

राजाking

महायशाःof great fame

दमघोषात्मजःson of Damaghoṣa

वीरःheroic

शिशुपालःŚiśupāla

मयाby me

हतःkilled/slain

Speaker

श्रीकृष्ण उवाच

Characters & Entities

Śrī Kṛṣṇa

Śiśupāla

Damaghoṣa

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even a celebrated and powerful ruler can fall when adharma ripens into punishable offense; royal splendor and fame do not exempt one from moral accountability, and actions generate further consequences in the political-moral order.

What is happening in the narrative?

Kṛṣṇa identifies Śiśupāla—renowned, mighty, and the son of Damaghoṣa—as the king he killed, setting the background for subsequent hostility and events that follow from Śiśupāla’s death.