Shloka 11

Jarāsandha–Vāsudeva Saṃvāda: Kṣātra-Dharma, Pride, and the Ethics of Coercion

Sabhā Parva, Adhyāya 20

Devanagari script

निहतश्न जरासंधो मोक्षिताश्न महीक्षित: | राजसूयश्न मे लब्धो निदेशे तव तिकछत:ः,आपकी आज्ञाके अनुसार चलनेमात्रसे मैं यह मानता हूँ कि जरासंध मारा गया। समस्त राजा उसकी कैदसे छुटकारा पा गये और मेरा राजसूययज्ञ भी पूरा हो गया

Transliteration

nihataś ca jarāsandho mokṣitāś ca mahīkṣitaḥ | rājasūyaś ca me labdho nideśe tava tiṣṭhataḥ ||

Translation

Юдхиштхира сказал: «Лишь потому, что я держался твоего наставления, я считаю: Джарасандха повержен; цари освобождены из его плена; и мой раджасуя-жертвенный обряд достигнут. Я приписываю этот успех не собственной силе, но послушанию мудрому совету и дхармическому руководству, которое ты даровал».

Word by Word

निहतःslain

जरासन्धःJarasandha

मोक्षिताःreleased, freed

महीक्षितःkings (earth-rulers)

राजसूयःRājasūya (royal consecration sacrifice)

मेof me, my

लब्धःobtained, accomplished

निदेशेin/under the command

तवof you, your

तिष्ठतःwhile (I) stand/abide (i.e., while obeying)

Speaker

युधिछिर उवाच

Characters & Entities

Yudhiṣṭhira

Jarāsandha

mahīkṣitaḥ (the captive kings)

Rājasūya (sacrifice)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights humility and ethical leadership: Yudhiṣṭhira credits success to following righteous counsel rather than personal pride, implying that dharmic guidance and disciplined obedience can yield both political victory and moral legitimacy.

What is happening in the narrative?

After Jarāsandha’s defeat and the freeing of kings he had imprisoned, Yudhiṣṭhira acknowledges that these outcomes—and the securing of his Rājasūya—were accomplished by adhering to the instruction of the one he addresses (contextually, Kṛṣṇa’s guidance).