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Shloka 243

कर्णभीमसमागमः | Karṇa–Bhīma Encounter

तव बाहुबलाद राजन्‌ कि नु कृष्णो बलाधिक: । “राजन! आपके बाहुबलको सामने पाकर सम्पूर्ण सात्वतवंशी क्षत्रिय कभी युद्धमें टिक न सके हैं। क्या आपके बाहुबलसे श्रीकृष्णका बल अधिक है?

tava bāhubalād rājan ki nu kṛṣṇo balādhikaḥ |

Санджая сказал: «О царь, перед мощью твоих собственных рук как может Кришна быть сильнее? Когда твоя сила встает перед ними, даже весь род сатватов никогда не мог устоять в бою. Неужели мощь Кришны и вправду превосходит твою?»

तवof you/your
तव:
सम्बन्ध
TypePronoun
Rootयुष्मद्
Form—, षष्ठी, एकवचन
बाहुबलात्from (i.e., compared to) arm-strength
बाहुबलात्:
अपादान
TypeNoun
Rootबाहुबल
Formनपुंसकलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी, एकवचन
राजन्O king
राजन्:
सम्बोधन
TypeNoun
Rootराजन्
Formपुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन, एकवचन
किम्what?/is it that...?
किम्:
कर्ता
TypePronoun
Rootकिम्
Formनपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन
नुindeed/then (interrogative particle)
नु:
TypeIndeclinable
Rootनु
Formtrue
कृष्णःKrishna
कृष्णः:
कर्ता
TypeNoun
Rootकृष्ण
Formपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन
बलाधिकःstronger/superior in strength
बलाधिकः:
कर्ता
TypeAdjective
Rootबलाधिक
Formपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

संजय उवाच

S
Sañjaya
K
Kṛṣṇa
T
the King (rājan; addressed figure)
S
Sātvata (Yādava/Vṛṣṇi lineage)

Educational Q&A

The verse highlights how assessments of strength can be shaped by pride and reputation: physical prowess (bāhubala) is treated as decisive, yet the very question about Kṛṣṇa hints that power may include strategy, divine support, and moral force beyond mere bodily might.

Sañjaya addresses the king and frames a rhetorical comparison: since the king’s martial strength has overawed even the Sātvata warriors, he questions whether Kṛṣṇa could truly be stronger—setting up tension between human valor and Kṛṣṇa’s exceptional (often supra-human) capability.