Shloka 38

वसुदेव–अर्जुन संवादः

Vasudeva–Arjuna Dialogue in the Aftermath of Dvārakā

Devanagari script

दश षट्‌ च सहस्राणि वासुदेवावरोधनम्‌ । पुरस्कृत्य ययुर्वज्॑ पौत्रं कृष्णस्य धीमत:,अन्धक और वृष्णिवंशके समस्त बालक अर्जुनके प्रति श्रद्धा रखनेवाले थे। वे तथा ब्राह्मण, क्षत्रिय, वैश्य, महाधनी शूद्र और भगवान्‌ श्रीकृष्णकी सोलह हजार स्त्रियाँ--ये सब-की-सब बुद्धिमान श्रीकृष्णके पौत्र वज़्को आगे करके चल रहे थे

Transliteration

daśa ṣaṭ ca sahasrāṇi vāsudevāvarodhanam | puraskṛtya yayur vajraṁ pautraṁ kṛṣṇasya dhīmataḥ ||

Translation

ヴァイシャンパーヤナは語った――十六千、すなわちヴァースデーヴァの奥向きの女たちは旅立ち、賢きクリシュナの孫ヴァジュラを先頭に立てた。このくだりは、クリシュナの去った後の共同体が移り変わりのただ中にあることを示す。弱き者を集めて守り、正統の後継のもとに秩序と忠誠をもって隊列を整えたのである。

Word by Word

• {'daśa': 'ten', 'ṣaṭ': 'six', 'sahasrāṇi': 'thousands', 'vāsudeva': 'Vāsudeva

• an epithet/name of Kṛṣṇa', 'avarodhana': 'inner apartments

• women of the royal household (harem/zenana)', 'puraskṛtya': 'placing in front

• honoring by precedence', 'yayuḥ': "they went

• they set out (perfect/preterite of √yā, 'to go')", 'vajram': 'Vajra (proper name)', 'pautram': 'grandson (descendant through a son)', 'kṛṣṇasya': 'of Kṛṣṇa', 'dhīmataḥ': 'of the wise/intelligent one'}

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Vāsudeva (Kṛṣṇa)
• Kṛṣṇa
• Vajra
• Vāsudeva’s avarodhana (women of Kṛṣṇa’s inner household)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

In a time of collapse and grief, dharma expresses itself as orderly protection: the community safeguards those dependent on the fallen leader by rallying around a rightful successor (Vajra) and moving under recognized authority rather than dissolving into chaos.

What is happening in the narrative?

After the destruction of the Yādavas, the women of Kṛṣṇa’s household (numbered here as sixteen thousand) depart together, placing Kṛṣṇa’s grandson Vajra at the front as their leader, indicating an organized relocation under a legitimate heir.