Shloka 54

Devanagari script

तस्य तद्‌ वचन श्रुत्वा कृष्णवाक्यप्रचोदित: । भावित्वाच्च महाराज वक्तुं समुपचक्रमे,“महाराज! भीमकी यह बात सुनकर श्रीकृष्णके आदेशसे प्रेरित हो भावीवश राजा युधिष्ठिर वह झूठी बात कहनेको तैयार हो गये

Transliteration

tasya tad vacanaṁ śrutvā kṛṣṇavākya-pracoditaḥ | bhāvitvāc ca mahārāja vaktuṁ samupacakrame ||

Translation

サञ्जयは言った。「大王よ。その言葉を聞き、クリシュナの勧めに促され、来たるべき運命に押し伏せられたユディシュティラ王は、その虚言を口にし始めた。」

Word by Word

तस्यof him/that

तत्that

वचनम्speech/statement

श्रुत्वाhaving heard

कृष्ण-वाक्य-प्रचोदितःimpelled by Krishna's words

भावित्वात्due to destiny/inevitability

चand

महाराजO great king

वक्तुम्to speak

समुपचक्रमेbegan/undertook

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Kṛṣṇa

Yudhiṣṭhira

Bhīma

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 ruler devoted to dharma can be driven into ethical compromise under the pressures of war, strategy, and perceived necessity. The verse highlights the tension between satya (truth) and rājadharma (duty of kingship in crisis), and how ‘inevitability’ or fate is invoked to explain moral collapse.

What is happening in the narrative?

After hearing the preceding statement (contextually tied to Bhīma’s words and the plan to break Droṇa’s resolve), Yudhiṣṭhira—prompted by Kṛṣṇa—begins to utter a falsehood. Sañjaya frames this as a decisive moment where Yudhiṣṭhira, normally steadfast in truth, is prepared to speak untruth for a strategic end.