Shloka 14

मārkaṇḍeya-ukta yuddha-vyūha-pratyavyūhaḥ

Battle Formations and Countermeasures in the Rāmopākhyāna

Devanagari script

यस्या हि कृष्णौ पदवीं चरेतां समास्थितावेकरथे समेतौ । इन्द्रोडपि तां नापहरेत्‌ कथंचि- न्मनुष्यमात्र: कृपण: कुतोडन्य:,एक रथपर बैठे हुए भगवान्‌ श्रीकृष्ण और अर्जुन साथ होकर जिसकी खोजमें निकलेंगे, उस द्रौपदीको देवराज इन्द्र भी किसी तरह हरकर नहीं ले जा सकते। फिर दूसरे किसी दीन-हीन मनुष्यकी तो बिसात ही क्या है?

Transliteration

yasyā hi kṛṣṇau padavīṃ caretāṃ samāsthitāv ekarathe sametau | indro 'pi tāṃ nāpaharet kathaṃcin manuṣyamātraḥ kṛpaṇaḥ kuto 'nyaḥ ||

Translation

Jayadratha said: “If the two Kṛṣṇas—Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna—set out together on her trail, standing united upon a single chariot, then even Indra could not carry Draupadī off by any means. How, then, could any other mere human—wretched and powerless—hope to do so?”

Word by Word

• {'yasyāḥ': 'of whom/whose (here: of her, i.e., Draupadī)', 'hi': 'indeed, for', 'kṛṣṇau': 'the two ‘Kṛṣṇas’ (Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna, who is also called Kṛṣṇa)', 'padavīm': 'track, path, trail (to be followed in pursuit)', 'caretām': 'would move about, would pursue (dual, optative/conditional sense)', 'samāsthitau': 'standing firm, mounted, stationed (dual)', 'ekarathe': 'on one chariot', 'sametau': 'together, united (dual)', 'indraḥ api': 'even Indra', 'tām': 'her (Draupadī)', 'na apaharet': 'would not carry off, could not abduct', 'kathaṃcit': 'in any way, by any means', 'manuṣyamātraḥ': 'a mere human', 'kṛpaṇaḥ': 'wretched, pitiable, mean, powerless', 'kutaḥ anyaḥ': 'how much less anyone else?'}

Speaker

जयद्रथ उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Jayadratha
• Kṛṣṇa (Vāsudeva)
• Arjuna (also called Kṛṣṇa)
• Indra
• Draupadī
• chariot (ratha)