Shloka 453
निरर्जुनां वा पृथिवीं केशवानुचरिष्यसि । “केशव! या तो आज इस पृथ्वीको धृतराष्ट्रपुत्रोंसे सूनी करके अपने भाईके अधिकारमें दे दूँगा या आप अर्जुनरहित पृथ्वीपर विचरेंगे
nirarjunāṃ vā pṛthivīṃ keśavānucariṣyasi |
قال سانجيا: «أم إنك يا كيشافا ستجوب أرضًا خلت من أرجونا؟ يا كيشافا! اليوم إمّا أن أُفرِغ هذه الأرض من أبناء دريتاراشترا وأسلّمها إلى حقّ إخوتي، وإمّا أن تمضي أنت في أرضٍ بلا أرجونا».
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores how dharma in the epic is person-centered: the fall of a righteous protector (Arjuna) is imagined as making the world itself ethically diminished. It highlights the catastrophic moral cost of war—victory or survival is hollow if it results in a world emptied of its dharmic guardians.
Sañjaya, narrating the battlefield events to Dhṛtarāṣṭra, evokes a stark alternative: Kṛṣṇa (Keśava) might have to traverse an earth ‘without Arjuna.’ It is a rhetorical intensification of the moment’s peril, emphasizing the possibility of Arjuna’s defeat and the resulting desolation.