Shloka 7

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

Devanagari script

इदानीमेव वै राजन्‌ जरासंधो महीपति:

Transliteration

idānīm eva vai rājan jarāsandho mahīpatiḥ | rājan! abhī-abhī bhūpāla jarāsandhaḥ samasta-kṣatriya-kulānāṃ rāja-lakṣmīṃ lāṅghayitvā rājabhiḥ samrāṭ-pade 'bhiṣiktaḥ | sa ca sva-bala-parākramena sarvān ākrāmya sarveṣāṃ rājñāṃ śirasi sthita iva bhavati |

Translation

Ó rei, neste exato momento Jarāsandha, senhor da terra, foi consagrado por outros reis ao posto de imperador, ultrapassando a fortuna régia e a precedência de todas as linhagens kṣatriya. Confiando na própria força e bravura, ele impõe seu poder sobre todos e se torna, por assim dizer, o primeiro entre os governantes — uma ascensão cuja ambição ameaça o equilíbrio do reinado legítimo.

Word by Word

• इदानीम्: now
• इदानीम्: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इदानीम्
• Form: Avyaya

• एव: indeed/just
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव
• Form: Avyaya

• वै: indeed (emphatic particle)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: वै
• Form: Avyaya

• राजन्: O king
• Type: Noun
• Root: राजन्
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• जरासन्धः: Jarasandha
• जरासन्धः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: जरासन्ध
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• महीपतिः: lord of the earth/king
• महीपतिः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: महीपति
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

श्रीकृष्ण उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Śrīkṛṣṇa
• Jarāsandha
• Rājan (the addressed king, i.e., Yudhiṣṭhira in context)
• Kṣatriya lineages
• Other kings (rājānaḥ)
• Samrāṭ (imperial status/office)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how sheer power and political endorsement can elevate a ruler to imperial status even when it disregards rightful precedence (rāja-lakṣmī) of other Kṣatriya houses—raising an ethical question about legitimacy, restraint, and the dharmic limits of ambition.

What is happening in the narrative?

Kṛṣṇa informs the king that Jarāsandha has just been anointed as an emperor by other rulers and is now aggressively asserting dominance over all, positioning himself as the foremost among kings and thereby becoming a major political-military threat.