Shloka 13

जयद्रथ-निग्रहः — Jayadratha Restrained, Shamed, and Released

Devanagari script

स एवमुक्तो नृपतिमुवाच द्विजसत्तम: । (ब्राह्मणै:ः सहितो राजन्‌ ये तत्रासन्‌ समागता: ।) न स शक्‍्य: क्रतुश्रेष्ठो जीवमाने युधिष्ठिरे

Transliteration

sa evam ukto nṛpatim uvāca dvijasattamaḥ | (brāhmaṇaiḥ sahito rājan ye tatrāsan samāgatāḥ |) na sa śakyaḥ kratuśreṣṭho jīvamāne yudhiṣṭhire

Translation

ഇങ്ങനെ പറഞ്ഞപ്പോൾ ദ്വിജശ്രേഷ്ഠൻ, അവിടെ കൂടിയിരുന്ന ബ്രാഹ്മണന്മാരോടൊപ്പം, രാജാവിനോട് പറഞ്ഞു— “രാജൻ! യുധിഷ്ഠിരൻ ജീവിച്ചിരിക്കെ ആ ക്രതുശ്രേഷ്ഠ യാഗം നടത്താൻ കഴിയില്ല.”

Word by Word

सःhe

एवम्thus

उक्तःhaving been spoken to / addressed

नृपतिम्the king

उवाचsaid

द्विजसत्तमःthe best of the twice-born (brahmin)

ब्राह्मणैःwith brahmins

सहितःaccompanied (by)

राजन्O king

येwho

तत्रthere

आसन्were

समागताःassembled / gathered

नnot

सःthat (sacrifice/rite)

शक्यःpossible / feasible

क्रतुश्रेष्ठःthe best sacrifice

जीवमानेwhile (he is) living

युधिष्ठिरेin/while Yudhishthira (is alive)

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Yudhiṣṭhira

nṛpati (a king, unnamed here)

dvijasattama (an eminent Brahmin, unnamed here)

brāhmaṇāḥ (Brahmins, assembled group)

kratuśreṣṭha (a supreme sacrificial rite)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even the highest ritual act must align with dharma and rightful circumstance; when a legitimate moral authority (here, Yudhiṣṭhira) is still living, certain grand undertakings are deemed improper or impossible to perform in a dharmically valid way.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana reports that an eminent Brahmin, together with other assembled Brahmins, addresses a king and declares that the ‘best of sacrifices’ cannot be performed while Yudhiṣṭhira is still alive—implying a constraint rooted in legitimacy and ritual-ethical conditions.