Shloka 18
Droṇa’s Conditional Boon: The Plan to Capture Yudhiṣṭhira (द्रोणेन युधिष्ठिरग्रहणोपायः)
नानादिग्भ्यश्न सम्प्राप्तान् खशांश्चैव शकांस्तथा । जितवान् पुण्डरीकाक्षो यवनं च सहानुगम्,संजय! इसी प्रकार कमलनयन श्रीकृष्णने अवन्ती, दक्षिण प्रान्त, पर्वतीय देश, दशेरक, काश्मीर, औरसिक, पिशाच, मुद्गल, काम्बोज, वाटधान, चोल, पाण्डब, त्रिगर्त, मालव, अत्यन्त दुर्जय दरद आदि देशोंके योद्धाओंको तथा नाना दिशाओंसे आये हुए खशों, शकों और अनुयायियों-सहित कालयवनको भी जीत लिया
nānādigbhyaḥ samprāptān khaśāṁś caiva śakāṁs tathā | jitavān puṇḍarīkākṣo yavanaṁ ca sahānugam, sañjaya ||
ವೈಶಂಪಾಯನನು ಹೇಳಿದನು— ಓ ಸಂಜಯ! ನಾನಾ ದಿಕ್ಕುಗಳಿಂದ ಬಂದ ಖಶರು ಮತ್ತು ಶಕರನ್ನು ಪದ್ಮನೇತ್ರ (ಶ್ರೀಕೃಷ್ಣನು) ಜಯಿಸಿದನು; ಹಾಗೆಯೇ ಅನುಯಾಯಿಗಳೊಡನೆ ಯವನರನ್ನೂ ವಶಪಡಿಸಿಕೊಂಡನು.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames Kṛṣṇa’s victories as the capacity to restore and maintain dharmic order across diverse regions and peoples. Strength is portrayed as legitimate when it serves stability, protection, and the curbing of forces that threaten social and political harmony.
Vaiśampāyana, addressing Sañjaya, recounts Kṛṣṇa’s earlier campaigns: he overcame various groups arriving from different directions—specifically naming the Khaśas, Śakas, and the Yavanas with their followers—presenting Kṛṣṇa as a universally victorious figure whose influence extends beyond the central Aryāvarta polities.