Shloka 11
Jarāsandha–Vāsudeva Saṃvāda: Kṣātra-Dharma, Pride, and the Ethics of Coercion
Sabhā Parva, Adhyāya 20
निहतश्न जरासंधो मोक्षिताश्न महीक्षित: | राजसूयश्न मे लब्धो निदेशे तव तिकछत:ः
nihataś ca jarāsandho mokṣitāś ca mahīkṣitaḥ | rājasūyaś ca me labdho nideśe tava tiṣṭhataḥ ||
یُدھِشٹھِر نے کہا—آپ کے حکم پر قائم رہنے ہی سے میں سمجھتا ہوں کہ جراسندھ مارا گیا، قید بادشاہ رہائی پائے، اور میرا راجسوئے یَجْن بھی کامیاب ہوا۔
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights humility and ethical leadership: Yudhiṣṭhira credits success to following righteous counsel rather than personal pride, implying that dharmic guidance and disciplined obedience can yield both political victory and moral legitimacy.
After Jarāsandha’s defeat and the freeing of kings he had imprisoned, Yudhiṣṭhira acknowledges that these outcomes—and the securing of his Rājasūya—were accomplished by adhering to the instruction of the one he addresses (contextually, Kṛṣṇa’s guidance).