Shloka 30

Droṇa’s Conditional Boon: The Plan to Capture Yudhiṣṭhira (द्रोणेन युधिष्ठिरग्रहणोपायः)

Devanagari script

आहूता वृष्णिवीरेण केशवेन महात्मना | ततः संशयितं सर्व भवेदिति मतिर्मम

Transliteration

āhūtā vṛṣṇivīreṇa keśavena mahātmanā | tataḥ saṃśayitaṃ sarvaṃ bhaved iti matir mama ||

Translation

ವೈಶಂಪಾಯನನು ಹೇಳಿದನು—ವೃಷ್ಣಿವೀರನಾದ ಮಹಾತ್ಮ ಕೇಶವನು ನನ್ನನ್ನು ಕರೆಯುತ್ತಿದ್ದಾಗ, ಅದರ ನಂತರ ಎಲ್ಲವೂ ಸಂಶಯಮಯವಾಗುತ್ತದೆ ಎಂಬ ನಿಶ್ಚಯ ನನ್ನ ಮನಸ್ಸಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಉಂಟಾಯಿತು।

Word by Word

आहूताःhaving been called/summoned

वृष्णिवीरेणby the hero of the Vṛṣṇis

केशवेनby Keśava (Kṛṣṇa)

महात्मनाby the great-souled one

ततःthen/thereupon

संशयितम्doubted; made uncertain

सर्वम्everything

भवेत्might be/would become

इतिthus (quotative)

मतिःthought/opinion

ममof me/my

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Vṛṣṇi clan

Keśava (Kṛṣṇa)

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 how even a wise narrator recognizes that certain summons by powerful, dharma-guiding figures (here Keśava) signal a turning point where outcomes become morally and strategically uncertain; it underscores vigilance and humility before complex ethical crises.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana reports that he was called by Keśava, the eminent Vṛṣṇi hero, and that this event made him anticipate a shift into doubt and uncertainty—foreshadowing a consequential decision or intervention in the unfolding war narrative.