Shloka 46

Rāma–Jāmadagnya-janma-kāraṇa and Kṣatra-kṣaya

Paraśurāma’s origins and the depletion/restoration of kṣatriya lineages

Devanagari script

निमित्तादवलिप्ता वै नृशंसाश्वैव सर्वदा । जमदग्निधेन्वास्ते वत्समानिन्युर्भरतर्षभ,भरतश्रेष्ठ] उस शापके ही कारण सदा क्रूरकर्म करनेवाले वे घमंडी राजकुमार एक दिन जमदग्नि मुनिकी होमधेनुके बछड़ेको चुरा ले आये

Transliteration

nimittād avaliptā vai nṛśaṃsāś caiva sarvadā | jamadagnidhenvās te vatsam āninyur bharatarṣabha ||

Translation

वासुदेव उवाच— निमित्तादवलिप्ता वै नृशंसाश्चैव सर्वदा। जमदग्निधेनोर्वत्सं तेऽनिन्युर्भरतर्षभ॥

Word by Word

निमित्तात्from/owing to a cause

अवलिप्ताःarrogant, conceited

वैindeed, surely

नृशंसाःcruel, ruthless

इवlike, as if

सर्वदाalways

जमदग्नि-धेन्वाःof Jamadagni's cow

तेthey

वत्सम्the calf

आनिन्युःthey brought (carried off)

भरत-ऋषभO bull among the Bharatas

Speaker

वासुदेव उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vāsudeva (Krishna)

Jamadagni

princes (rājakumāraḥ, implied)

wish-fulfilling cow (homadhenu/kāmadhenu, implied by context)

calf (vatsa)

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 warns that pride (avalipta) and the habit of justifying wrongdoing through convenient pretexts (nimitta) lead to sustained cruelty (nṛśaṃsa). Ethical decline begins when power treats the sacred and the vulnerable as objects to be seized.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vāsudeva recounts an incident in which arrogant, cruel princes seize and carry off the calf belonging to the sage Jamadagni’s sacred cow. The act functions as an example of royal misconduct and the kind of adharma that provokes grave consequences.