Shloka 14
Kurukṣetra-anudarśanam — Rāma-hradāḥ and the Question of Kṣatra Continuity (शान्ति पर्व, अध्याय ४८)
किमर्थ भार्गवेणेदं क्षत्रमुत्सादितं पुरा । रामेण यदुशार्दूल कुरुक्षेत्र महात्मना,यदुसिंह! भृगुवंशी महात्मा परशुरामने पूर्वकालमें कुरक्षेत्रमें यह क्षत्रियोंका संहार किसलिये किया?
kimarthaṃ bhārgaveṇedaṃ kṣatram utsāditaṃ purā | rāmeṇa yaduśārdūla kuru-kṣetre mahātmanā || yadu-siṃha!
Yudhiṣṭhira berkata: “Atas sebab apakah, wahai yang terbaik dalam keturunan Yadu, Bhārgava Rāma—Paraśurāma yang berhati agung—pada zaman dahulu telah menghapuskan golongan kṣatriya di medan Kurukṣetra ini? Wahai singa kaum Yadu, mengapa pembantaian itu dilakukan?”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames an ethical inquiry: even a revered figure’s mass violence demands a moral rationale. It invites reflection on when punitive force is considered dharmic, what abuses of power provoke retribution, and how lineage, duty, and justice are weighed in itihāsa.
Yudhiṣṭhira addresses a Yādava interlocutor (commonly understood as Kṛṣṇa in this section) and asks why Paraśurāma, the Bhārgava sage-warrior, once annihilated the kṣatriyas at Kurukṣetra—seeking the cause and justification of that ancient event.