Shloka 353

Devanagari script

एरकानां ततो मुष्टिं कोपाज्जग्राह केशव: । परंतु विपक्षियोंकी संख्या बहुत अधिक थी; इसलिये वे दोनों श्रीकृष्णके देखते-देखते उनके हाथसे मार डाले गये। सात्यकि तथा अपने पुत्रको मारा गया देख यदुनन्दन श्रीकृष्णने कुपित होकर एक मुट्ठी एएका उखाड़ ली

Transliteration

erakānāṁ tato muṣṭiṁ kopāj jagrāha keśavaḥ |

Translation

Vaiśampāyana nói: Rồi Keśava (Śrī Kṛṣṇa), bị cơn giận cuốn lấy, nắm chặt một nắm cỏ eraka. Cảnh tượng ấy cho thấy khi bạo lực dâng trào và sự tự chế sụp đổ, ngay cả sự điềm tĩnh của Đấng Tối Thượng cũng nhường chỗ cho phẫn nộ, trong lúc dòng Yādava lao vào cuộc hủy diệt lẫn nhau.

Word by Word

एरकानाम्of the eraka reeds

ततःthen; thereafter

मुष्टिम्a fistful; a handful

कोपात्from anger; out of wrath

जग्राहseized; took

केशवःKeshava (Krishna)

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Keśava (Kṛṣṇa)

eraka reeds

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

When collective restraint collapses, anger spreads rapidly and even the greatest are drawn into the momentum of violence; the episode highlights the working of destiny and karma in the downfall of the Yādavas.

What is happening in the narrative?

As the Yādavas descend into mutual fighting, Kṛṣṇa (Keśava), angered by the unfolding slaughter, takes up a fistful of eraka reeds—objects that function as weapons in the Mausala Parva’s account of the clan’s destruction.