Shloka 47

Jarā’s Account and the Enthronement of Jarāsandha (जरासंधोत्पत्तिः अभिषेकश्च)

Devanagari script

नाहामि विषये राज्ञो वसन्ती पुत्रगृद्धिन: । बालं पुत्रमिमं हन्तुं धार्मिकस्य महात्मन:,उन दोनों रानियोंको उस प्रकार उदास, राजाको संतान पानेके लिये उत्सुक तथा उस बालकको अत्यन्त बलवान्‌ देखकर राक्षसीने सोचा, “मैं इस राजाके राज्यमें रहती हूँ। यह पुत्रकी इच्छा रखता है; अतः इस धर्मात्मा तथा महात्मा नरेशके बालक पुत्रकी हत्या करना मेरे लिये उचित नहीं है”

Transliteration

nāhāmi viṣaye rājño vasantī putragṛddhinaḥ | bālaṃ putram imaṃ hantuṃ dhārmikasya mahātmanaḥ ||

Translation

“ഞാൻ ഈ രാജാവിന്റെ രാജ്യത്തിനകത്ത് വസിക്കുന്നു; അവന് പുത്രലാലസയുണ്ട്; അതിനാൽ ഈ ധർമ്മാത്മാവും മഹാത്മാവുമായ നരേശന്റെ ഈ ബാലപുത്രനെ കൊല്ലുന്നത് എനിക്കു യുക്തമല്ല.”

Word by Word

नnot

अहामिI kill / I would kill

विषयेin the realm/territory

राज्ञःof the king

वसन्तीdwelling (female), living

पुत्रगृद्धिनःof (one) eager/greedy for a son

बालम्young, a child

पुत्रम्son

इमम्this

हन्तुम्to kill

धार्मिकस्यof the righteous

महात्मनःof the great-souled one

Speaker

श्रीकृष्ण उवाच

Characters & Entities

a king (rājā)

the king’s child/son (bāla putra)

a rākṣasī (implied by narrative context)

two queens (implied by narrative context)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even one inclined to harm recognizes a boundary set by dharma: it is unethical to kill an innocent child, especially the offspring of a righteous king; moral restraint is upheld as a higher law than impulse.

What is happening in the narrative?

A rākṣasī, living in the king’s realm, sees the king’s yearning for a son and the vulnerability of the child; she reasons that killing the boy would be improper and refrains, grounding her decision in the king’s righteousness and the ethical weight of the act.