Shloka 14
Kurukṣetra-anudarśanam — Rāma-hradāḥ and the Question of Kṣatra Continuity (शान्ति पर्व, अध्याय ४८)
किमर्थ भार्गवेणेदं क्षत्रमुत्सादितं पुरा । रामेण यदुशार्दूल कुरुक्षेत्र महात्मना,यदुसिंह! भृगुवंशी महात्मा परशुरामने पूर्वकालमें कुरक्षेत्रमें यह क्षत्रियोंका संहार किसलिये किया?
kimarthaṃ bhārgaveṇedaṃ kṣatram utsāditaṃ purā | rāmeṇa yaduśārdūla kuru-kṣetre mahātmanā || yadu-siṃha!
Wika ni Yudhiṣṭhira: “Sa anong dahilan, O pinakamainam sa mga Yadu, ang Bhārgava na si Rāma—ang dakilang-loob na Paraśurāma—ay minsang naglipol sa uring kṣatriya dito sa Kurukṣetra? O leon ng mga Yadu, bakit isinagawa ang pagpatay na iyon?”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames an ethical inquiry: even a revered figure’s mass violence demands a moral rationale. It invites reflection on when punitive force is considered dharmic, what abuses of power provoke retribution, and how lineage, duty, and justice are weighed in itihāsa.
Yudhiṣṭhira addresses a Yādava interlocutor (commonly understood as Kṛṣṇa in this section) and asks why Paraśurāma, the Bhārgava sage-warrior, once annihilated the kṣatriyas at Kurukṣetra—seeking the cause and justification of that ancient event.