Shloka 5
Arjuna’s request to Krishna and the opening of the Kāśyapa–Brāhmaṇa mokṣa discourse (Āśvamedhika-parva 16)
विदितं मे महाबाहो संग्रामे समुपस्थिते । माहात्म्यं देवकीमातस्तच्च ते रूपमैश्वरम्,“महाबाहो! देवकीनन्दन! जब संग्रामका समय उपस्थित था, उस समय मुझे आपके माहात्म्यका ज्ञान और ईश्वरीय स्वरूपका दर्शन हुआ था
viditaṁ me mahābāho saṅgrāme samupasthite | māhātmyaṁ devakīmātas tac ca te rūpam aiśvaram ||
Sinabi ni Vaiśampāyana: “O makapangyarihang may malalakas na bisig, O anak ni Devakī! Nang sumapit ang oras ng digmaan, nakilala ko ang iyong tunay na kadakilaan, at nasilayan ko ang iyong makapangyarihang anyong banal.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
True authority in dharma is not merely martial strength but recognition of the divine sovereignty that guides righteous action; the speaker emphasizes that in the crisis of war, Kṛṣṇa’s transcendent greatness and lordly form became unmistakably evident.
Vaiśampāyana recalls that at the moment when battle was imminent, he (or the narrated witness) realized Kṛṣṇa’s extraordinary majesty and perceived his aiśvara (divine, sovereign) form, framing the war context as a setting for revelation rather than mere conflict.