Shloka 39

Devanagari script

कथं वास्मासु जीवत्सु त्वयि चैव जनार्दन । हैडिम्बि: प्राप्तवान्‌ मृत्युं सूतपुत्रेण सड़तः,'जनार्दन! हमारे और आपके जीते-जी हिडिम्बा-कुमार घटोत्कच सूतपुत्रके साथ संग्राम करके मृत्युको कैसे प्राप्त हुआ?

Transliteration

kathaṃ vāsmāsu jīvatsu tvayi caiva janārdana | haiḍimbiḥ prāptavān mṛtyuṃ sūtaputreṇa saṅgataḥ ||

Translation

サンジャヤは言った。「おおジャナルダナよ。われらがなお生き、そなたもまた在るというのに、ヒディンバーの子ガトートカチャは、御者の子と戦ったのち、いかにして死に至ったのか。」

Word by Word

कथम्how?

वाindeed/and/or (emphatic particle)

अस्मासुamong us / while we (are present)

जीवत्सुwhile (we are) living

त्वयिin you / while you (are present)

चand

एवindeed/just

जनार्दनO Janārdana (Krishna)

हैडिम्बिःthe son of Hiḍimbā (Ghaṭotkaca)

प्राप्तवान्obtained/reached

मृत्युम्death

सूतपुत्रेणby the charioteer’s son (Karna)

सङ्गतःhaving engaged/met (in combat)

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sanjaya

Janardana (Krishna)

Hidimba (Hidimbā)

Ghatotkacha

Sutaputra (Karna)

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 highlights the shock that even great protectors and warriors cannot always prevent death in a dharma-war; outcomes unfold through a convergence of human effort, strategic necessity, and fate (karma). It frames ethical reflection on the limits of power and the inevitability of loss in righteous conflict.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sanjaya addresses Krishna (Janardana) in astonishment, asking how Ghaṭotkaca—son of Hidimbā—could have been killed after fighting Karṇa (the sūtaputra). The question sets up the account of the battle circumstances that led to Ghaṭotkaca’s death.