Shloka 11
Kurukṣetra-anudarśanam — Rāma-hradāḥ and the Question of Kṣatra Continuity (शान्ति पर्व, अध्याय ४८)
क्षत्रबीजं यथा दग्धं रामेण यदुपुड्भव । कथं भूय: समुत्पत्ति: क्षत्रस्यामितविक्रम,अमित पराक्रमी यदुनाथ! जब परशुरामजीने क्षत्रियोंका बीजतक दग्ध कर दिया, तब फिर क्षत्रिय-जातिकी उत्पत्ति कैसे हुई?
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca |
kṣatrabījaṃ yathā dagdhaṃ rāmeṇa yadupūḍbhava |
kathaṃ bhūyaḥ samutpattiḥ kṣatrasyāmitavikrama ||
Yudhiṣṭhira thưa: “Hỡi hậu duệ nhà Yadu, bậc có oai lực vô lượng! Khi Paraśurāma đã thiêu rụi đến cả ‘hạt giống’ của kṣatriya, thì về sau giai cấp kṣatriya đã phát sinh trở lại bằng cách nào?”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a dharmic-historical problem: even when violence seems total (“the seed of the Kṣatriyas” destroyed), social order and lineages can re-emerge. It invites reflection on the limits of exterminatory violence, the resilience of varṇa/lineage structures, and how dharma is restored after catastrophe.
In Śānti Parva, Yudhiṣṭhira questions a Yādava interlocutor about the famous tradition that Paraśurāma annihilated the Kṣatriyas. He asks how, if their very ‘seed’ was burned, Kṣatriyas later appeared again—seeking a coherent account of lineage continuity and the reconstitution of kingship.