Shloka 14

Duryodhana Seeks Droṇa’s Counsel; Imperative to Protect Jayadratha; Pāñcāla Assault on Duryodhana

Devanagari script

जानंस्त्वमपि वै कृष्ण मां विमोहयसे कथम्‌ । यद्‌ वृत्तं त्रिषु लोकेषु यच्च केशव वर्तते,श्रीकृष्ण! आप यह सब कुछ जानते हुए भी मुझे मोहमें कैसे डाल रहे हैं? केशव! तीनों लोकोंमें जो बात हो चुकी है, जो हो रही है तथा जो कुछ आगे होनेवाली है, वह सब आपको विदित है। मधुसूदन! इसे आप जैसा जानते हैं, वैसा दूसरा कोई नहीं जानता है

Transliteration

jānans tvam api vai kṛṣṇa māṁ vimohayase katham | yad vṛttaṁ triṣu lokeṣu yac ca keśava vartate ||

Translation

जानंस्त्वमपि वै कृष्ण मां विमोहयसि कथम्। यद्वृत्तं त्रिषु लोकेषु यच्च केशव वर्तते॥

Word by Word

• {'jānan': 'knowing

• being aware', 'tvam': 'you', 'api': 'also

• even', 'vai': 'indeed

• surely (emphatic particle)', 'kṛṣṇa': 'Kṛṣṇa (name of Śrī Kṛṣṇa)', 'mām': 'me', 'vimohayase': 'you bewilder

• you cause delusion/confusion', 'katham': 'how? in what way?', 'yat': 'whatever

• that which', 'vṛttam': 'what has happened

• what has occurred', 'triṣu': 'in the three', 'lokeṣu': 'worlds

• realms', 'keśava': 'Keśava (epithet of Kṛṣṇa)', 'vartate': 'is happening

Speaker

अजुन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Arjuna
• Kṛṣṇa
• Keśava
• Madhusūdana
• three worlds (tri-loka)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Arjuna acknowledges Kṛṣṇa’s all-knowing nature across the three worlds and challenges the apparent contradiction of being led into confusion; the verse foregrounds the ethical tension between divine foreknowledge and human uncertainty in decision-making during war.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the midst of the Drona Parva’s intense battlefield events, Arjuna addresses Kṛṣṇa directly, expressing perplexity and appealing to Kṛṣṇa’s omniscience—implying that Kṛṣṇa already knows what has happened and what will happen, and therefore should clarify rather than deepen Arjuna’s doubt.