Shloka 21

युधिष्ठिरस्य राज्याभिषेकः | Yudhiṣṭhira’s Royal Consecration

Devanagari script

युधिष्ठिर महाबाहो दिष्ट्या जयसि पाण्डव । दिष्ट्या स्वधर्म प्राप्तोड्सि विक्रमेण महाद्युते

Transliteration

vaiśampāyana uvāca | yudhiṣṭhira mahābāho diṣṭyā jayasi pāṇḍava | diṣṭyā svadharma-prāpto 'si vikrameṇa mahādyute ||

Translation

ไวศัมปายนะกล่าวว่า “โอ้ยุธิษฐิระผู้มีพาหาอันเกรียงไกร โอรสแห่งปาณฑุ นับเป็นบุญวาสนาที่ท่านได้รับชัยชนะ และเป็นนิมิตแห่งพรอีกประการหนึ่ง โอ้พระราชาผู้รุ่งเรืองยิ่ง ที่ด้วยพระวีรภาพของพระองค์เอง ท่านได้ครองราชย์ตามสวธรรม (หน้าที่อันชอบธรรม) ของตน”

Word by Word

• {'vaiśampāyana uvāca': 'Vaiśampāyana said', 'yudhiṣṭhira': 'Yudhiṣṭhira (eldest Pāṇḍava, exemplar of dharma)', 'mahābāho': 'mighty-armed

• a heroic epithet', 'diṣṭyā': 'by good fortune

• auspiciously', 'jayasi': 'you win

• you are victorious', 'pāṇḍava': 'son/descendant of Pāṇḍu

• Pāṇḍava prince', 'svadharma': 'one’s own rightful duty

• personal/royal obligation according to station', "prāptaḥ asi (prāpto 'si)": 'you have obtained

• you have attained', 'vikrameṇa': 'by valour

• through heroic effort', 'mahādyute': 'O great-splendoured one

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Yudhiṣṭhira
• Pāṇḍu

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse links political success to ethical legitimacy: victory is praised not merely as conquest, but as the attainment of rule that accords with svadharma (rightful duty). Fortune (diṣṭyā) is acknowledged, yet the king’s own effort and valour (vikrama) are also affirmed—suggesting that righteous sovereignty arises from both providence and disciplined action aligned with duty.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Śānti Parva setting, after the great war, Vaiśampāyana narrates words that congratulate Yudhiṣṭhira. He declares Yudhiṣṭhira’s victory auspicious and emphasizes that Yudhiṣṭhira has obtained the kingdom in a dharma-consistent manner, framing the outcome as legitimate and ethically grounded despite the trauma of war.