Shloka 11

मārkaṇḍeya-ukta yuddha-vyūha-pratyavyūhaḥ

Battle Formations and Countermeasures in the Rāmopākhyāna

Devanagari script

वयं पुन: सप्तदशेषु कृष्णे कुलेषु सर्वेडनवमेषु जाता: । षड्भ्यो गुणेभ्यो5भ्यधिका विहीनान्‌ मन्यामहे द्रौपदि पाण्डुपुत्रान्‌,ट्रपदकुमारी कृष्णे! हम सब लोग जन श्रेष्ठ कुलोंमें उत्पन्न हुए हैं, जो सत्रह* गुणोंसे सम्पन्न हैं। इसके सिवा हम छः गुणोंको पाकर पाण्डवोंसे बढ़े-चढ़े हैं; अतः उन्हें अपनेसे हीन मानते हैं

Transliteration

jayadratha uvāca | vayaṃ punaḥ saptadaśeṣu kṛṣṇe kuleṣu sarve navameṣu jātāḥ | ṣaḍbhyo guṇebhyo 'bhyadhikā vihīnān manyāmahe draupadi pāṇḍuputrān |

Translation

Jayadratha disse: “Ó Kṛṣṇā (Draupadī)! Todos nós nascemos em linhagens nobres, contadas entre os dezessete clãs estimados. Além disso, possuindo seis excelências a mais, consideramos os filhos de Pāṇḍu inferiores a nós.”

Word by Word

• {'jayadratha uvāca': 'Jayadratha said', 'vayam': 'we', 'punaḥ': 'again

• moreover', 'saptadaśeṣu': 'among seventeen', 'kuleṣu': 'in clans/lineages

• noble families', 'kṛṣṇe': 'O Kṛṣṇā

• vocative of Kṛṣṇā (Draupadī)', 'sarve': 'all (of us)', 'navameṣu': 'among the foremost/excellent (lit. ‘in the ninths’

• used here as a classificatory boast in the received text)', 'jātāḥ': 'born', 'ṣaḍbhyaḥ': 'from/with six', 'guṇebhyaḥ': 'qualities, excellences, virtues', 'abhyadhikāḥ': 'superior

• exceeding', 'vihīnān': 'deficient

• inferior', 'manyāmahe': 'we think/consider', 'draupadi': 'O Draupadī', 'pāṇḍuputrān': 'the sons of Pāṇḍu (the Pāṇḍavas)'}

Speaker

जयद्रथ उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Jayadratha
• Draupadī (Kṛṣṇā)
• Pāṇḍavas (sons of Pāṇḍu)
• Pāṇḍu

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse illustrates how arrogance based on birth (kula) and claimed qualities (guṇa) can become a rationale for contempt and wrongdoing. In the Mahābhārata’s ethical vision, such pride is a mark of adharma and leads to consequences, especially when directed against the righteous and the vulnerable.

What is happening in the narrative?

Jayadratha addresses Draupadī during the Vana Parva episode in which he confronts her and the Pāṇḍavas. He boasts of his noble lineage and superior qualities, asserting that the Pāṇḍavas are beneath him—setting the tone for his transgressive behavior and the ensuing conflict.