Shloka 18
अश्वत्थाम-शापः, परिक्षिद्भविष्यत्, मणि-न्यासः
Aśvatthāman’s Curse, Parikṣit’s Future, and the Mani’s Restitution
तस्माद् यद् देवकीपुत्र उत्तवानुत्तमं वच: । असंशयं ते तद् भावि क्षत्रधर्मस्त्वया55श्रित:
tasmād yad devakīputra uttavānuttamaṃ vacaḥ | asaṃśayaṃ te tad bhāvi kṣatradharmas tvayā śritaḥ ||
ゆえに、デーヴァキーの子よ、そなたが語った最上の言葉は必ず成就する。疑いなく、そなたはクシャトリヤの法（kṣatriya-dharma）—決意を貫き、民を護り、戦の苛烈な要請を担う武人の道—に身を寄せたのだ。
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse affirms that steadfast adherence to kṣatriya-dharma—speaking and acting with warriorly resolve and responsibility—has consequences that will certainly manifest; righteous commitment makes one’s declared course effectively inevitable.
Vyāsa addresses Kṛṣṇa (called Devakīputra), validating Kṛṣṇa’s prior statement as ‘unsurpassed’ and declaring that it will surely come true, because Kṛṣṇa has embraced the path and obligations of kṣatriya-dharma in the unfolding post-war events of the Sauptika Parva.