Shloka 6

अश्वत्थाम-शापः, परिक्षिद्भविष्यत्, मणि-न्यासः

Aśvatthāman’s Curse, Parikṣit’s Future, and the Mani’s Restitution

Devanagari script

नैतदेवं यथा<55त्थ त्वं पक्षपातेन केशव । वचन पुण्डरीकाक्ष न च मद्धाक्यमन्यथा,“कमलनयन केशव! तुम पाण्डवोंका पक्षपात करते हुए इस समय जैसी बात कह गये हो, वह कभी हो नहीं सकती। मेरा वचन झूठा नहीं होगा

Transliteration

naitadevaṃ yathāttha tvaṃ pakṣapātena keśava | vacanaṃ puṇḍarīkākṣa na ca mad-vākyam anyathā ||

Translation

وَیشَمپایَن نے کہا— اے کیشو، اے کنول چشم! پاندَووں کی طرف جانبداری کرتے ہوئے تم نے ابھی جو بات کہی ہے، وہ ہرگز یوں سچ نہیں ہو سکتی۔ اور میرا قول بھی اس کے خلاف نہیں ہوگا؛ میرا کلام جھوٹا نہیں ٹھہرے گا۔

Word by Word

[{'term''naitat', 'definition': 'not this

this is not so'}, {'term''evaṃ', 'definition': 'thus

in this manner'}, {'term''yathā', 'definition': 'as

in the way that'}, {'term''āttha', 'definition': 'you said

you spoke (2nd sg. perfect/preterite of √ah)'}, {'term''tvaṃ', 'definition': 'you'}, {'term': 'pakṣapāta', 'definition': 'partiality

favoritism'}, {'term''keśava', 'definition': 'Keśava

an epithet of Kṛṣṇa'}, {'term''vacanam', 'definition': 'speech

word'}, {'term''puṇḍarīkākṣa', 'definition': 'lotus-eyed

an epithet of Kṛṣṇa/Viṣṇu'}, {'term''na ca', 'definition': 'and not

nor'}, {'term''mad-vākyam', 'definition': 'my statement

my word'}, {'term''anyathā', 'definition': 'otherwise

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Keśava (Kṛṣṇa)

Puṇḍarīkākṣa (Kṛṣṇa)

Pāṇḍavas

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse foregrounds the ethical weight of speech: a truthful person insists that their word will not become false, and it critiques counsel distorted by partiality (pakṣapāta), especially in a fraught post-war context.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Sauptika Parva’s tense aftermath, a speaker addresses Kṛṣṇa (Keśava, Puṇḍarīkākṣa), rejecting a claim attributed to him as biased toward the Pāṇḍavas and asserting firmly that the speaker’s own statement will not prove otherwise—i.e., it will stand as true.