Shloka 513

Devanagari script

निःक्षत्रियां प्रतिश्रुत्य महीं शस्त्रमगृह्नत । पिताके इस प्रकार मारे जानेसे परशुरामके क्रोधकी सीमा न रही। उन्होंने इस पृथ्वीको क्षत्रियोंसे सूनी कर देनेकी भीषण प्रतिज्ञा करके हथियार उठाया

Transliteration

niḥkṣatriyāṃ pratiśrutya mahīṃ śastram agṛhṇata |

Translation

Disse Vāsudeva: Tendo jurado tornar a terra desprovida de kṣatriyas, ele tomou as armas. Quando seu pai foi morto desse modo, a ira de Paraśurāma não conheceu limites; fazendo um voto terrível de esvaziar o mundo da classe guerreira, armou-se.

Word by Word

निःक्षत्रियाम्devoid of Kshatriyas

प्रतिश्रुत्यhaving vowed/promised

महीम्the earth

शस्त्रम्weapon

अगृह्णतtook/raised (a weapon)

Speaker

वासुदेव उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vāsudeva (Kṛṣṇa)

Paraśurāma

Paraśurāma’s father (Jamadagni, implied by context)

Earth (Mahī)

Weapons (Śastra)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The passage highlights how righteous motives (filial loyalty, response to injustice) can be overwhelmed by uncontrolled anger, turning into disproportionate violence. It implicitly cautions that vows made in wrath can violate dharma by escalating harm beyond the original wrong.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vāsudeva recounts that after his father was killed, Paraśurāma, consumed by grief and rage, made a terrifying vow to render the earth ‘without kṣatriyas’ and therefore took up weapons to carry out that resolve.