Shloka 6

अश्वत्थाम-शापः, परिक्षिद्भविष्यत्, मणि-न्यासः

Aśvatthāman’s Curse, Parikṣit’s Future, and the Mani’s Restitution

Devanagari script

नैतदेवं यथा<55त्थ त्वं पक्षपातेन केशव । वचन पुण्डरीकाक्ष न च मद्धाक्यमन्यथा,“कमलनयन केशव! तुम पाण्डवोंका पक्षपात करते हुए इस समय जैसी बात कह गये हो, वह कभी हो नहीं सकती। मेरा वचन झूठा नहीं होगा

Transliteration

naitadevaṃ yathāttha tvaṃ pakṣapātena keśava | vacanaṃ puṇḍarīkākṣa na ca mad-vākyam anyathā ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana berkata: “Wahai Keśava, yang bermata laksana teratai! Apa yang baru engkau ucapkan—dengan memihak kepada pihak Pāṇḍava—tidak mungkin benar terjadi. Dan kata-kataku juga tidak akan menjadi sebaliknya; ucapanku tidak akan dusta.”

Word by Word

[{'term''naitat', 'definition': 'not this

this is not so'}, {'term''evaṃ', 'definition': 'thus

in this manner'}, {'term''yathā', 'definition': 'as

in the way that'}, {'term''āttha', 'definition': 'you said

you spoke (2nd sg. perfect/preterite of √ah)'}, {'term''tvaṃ', 'definition': 'you'}, {'term': 'pakṣapāta', 'definition': 'partiality

favoritism'}, {'term''keśava', 'definition': 'Keśava

an epithet of Kṛṣṇa'}, {'term''vacanam', 'definition': 'speech

word'}, {'term''puṇḍarīkākṣa', 'definition': 'lotus-eyed

an epithet of Kṛṣṇa/Viṣṇu'}, {'term''na ca', 'definition': 'and not

nor'}, {'term''mad-vākyam', 'definition': 'my statement

my word'}, {'term''anyathā', 'definition': 'otherwise

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Keśava (Kṛṣṇa)

Puṇḍarīkākṣa (Kṛṣṇa)

Pāṇḍavas

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse foregrounds the ethical weight of speech: a truthful person insists that their word will not become false, and it critiques counsel distorted by partiality (pakṣapāta), especially in a fraught post-war context.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Sauptika Parva’s tense aftermath, a speaker addresses Kṛṣṇa (Keśava, Puṇḍarīkākṣa), rejecting a claim attributed to him as biased toward the Pāṇḍavas and asserting firmly that the speaker’s own statement will not prove otherwise—i.e., it will stand as true.