Shloka 2

Samrāt-Lakṣaṇa and the Counsel to Check Jarāsandha (सम्राट्-लक्षणं जरासन्ध-प्रतिबाधा-परामर्शः)

Devanagari script

जामदग्न्येन रामेण क्षत्रं यदवशेषितम्‌ । तस्मादवरजं लोके यदिदं क्षत्रसंज्ञितम्‌

Transliteration

jāmadagnyena rāmeṇa kṣatraṁ yad avaśeṣitam | tasmād avarajaṁ loke yad idaṁ kṣatra-saṁjñitam ||

Translation

Kṛṣṇa disse: “O que restou da ordem dos kṣatriyas depois que Rāma Jāmadagnya (Paraśurāma) exterminou os kṣatriyas—o que hoje o mundo chama de ‘kṣatriya’ é, por isso, um remanescente tardio e inferior. Os que sobreviveram, sobreviveram escondendo-se; assim, os kṣatriyas atuais são apenas uma continuação diminuída da antiga linhagem.”

Word by Word

• {'jāmadagnya': 'descendant of Jamadagni

• epithet of Paraśurāma', 'rāmaḥ (jāmadagnya-rāmaḥ)': 'Rama, i.e., Paraśurāma', 'kṣatram': 'the Kshatriya estate/order

• royal warrior class', 'yad': 'which

• whatever', 'avaśeṣitam': 'left remaining

• that which survived', 'tasmāt': 'therefore

• from that cause', 'avarajam': 'later-born

• of lower rank compared to predecessors', 'loke': 'in the world

• among people', 'idam': 'this (present, current)', 'kṣatra-saṁjñitam': 'called/known as ‘Kshatriya’ (bearing the designation kṣatra)'}

Speaker

श्रीकृष्ण उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Śrī Kṛṣṇa
• Rāma Jāmadagnya (Paraśurāma)
• Kṣatriyas (kṣatra)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames the present Kshatriya order as a diminished remnant after Paraśurāma’s earlier purge, implying a decline in the quality and authority of the warrior class and inviting reflection on how social titles can persist even when the original standards of dharma and excellence have weakened.

What is happening in the narrative?

Kṛṣṇa refers to the legendary episode of Paraśurāma’s destruction of Kshatriyas and explains that those who survived did so by concealment; hence, the Kshatriyas of the current age are described as later-born and inferior compared to the earlier Kshatriya stock.