Shloka 6

Abhimanyu’s Śrāddha; Vyāsa’s Assurance of the Unborn Heir (अभिमन्योः श्राद्धं तथा गर्भरक्षणोपदेशः)

Devanagari script

ततः स दौहित्रवधदुःखशोकसमाहत: । वसुदेवो महाराज कृष्णं वाक्यमथाब्रवीत्‌,महाराज! तदनन्तर दौहित्रवधके दुःख-शोकसे आहत हो वसुदेवजीने श्रीकृष्णसे इस प्रकार कहा--

Transliteration

tataḥ sa dauhitravadhaduḥkhaśokasamāhataḥ | vasudevo mahārāja kṛṣṇaṃ vākyam athābravīt ||

Translation

ఆపై మనవడి వధవల్ల కలిగిన దుఃఖశోకాలకు లోనైన వసుదేవుడు, ఓ మహారాజా, కృష్ణునితో ఈ మాటలు పలికాడు।

Word by Word

ततःthen, thereafter

सःhe

दौहित्र-वध-दुःख-शोक-समाहतःstruck/overwhelmed by grief and sorrow due to the killing of (his) grandson

वसुदेवःVasudeva

महा-राजO great king

कृष्णम्to Krishna (as object addressed)

वाक्यम्words, a statement

अथthen, now

अब्रवीत्said, spoke

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vasudeva

Kṛṣṇa

Mahārāja (the king being addressed, i.e., Janamejaya in the frame narrative)

dauhitra (grandson, unnamed here)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even when events are driven by larger duties and conflicts, the moral and emotional consequences—especially the pain of kin-loss—remain real; the verse foregrounds compassion and the need for wise counsel in the aftermath of violence.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vasudeva, overwhelmed by sorrow over the death of his grandson, turns to Kṛṣṇa and begins to speak; the narrator (Vaiśaṃpāyana) reports this to the king in the frame story.