Shloka 453

Devanagari script

निरर्जुनां वा पृथिवीं केशवानुचरिष्यसि । “केशव! या तो आज इस पृथ्वीको धृतराष्ट्रपुत्रोंसे सूनी करके अपने भाईके अधिकारमें दे दूँगा या आप अर्जुनरहित पृथ्वीपर विचरेंगे

Transliteration

nirarjunāṃ vā pṛthivīṃ keśavānucariṣyasi |

Translation

Sañjaya sprach: „Oder wirst du, o Keśava, über eine Erde wandern, der Arjuna genommen ist? Keśava! Heute werde ich entweder diese Erde von den Söhnen Dhṛtarāṣṭras leer machen und sie dem Recht meiner Brüder übergeben, oder du wirst auf einer Welt ohne Arjuna umhergehen.“

Word by Word

• निः: without; free from
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: निः

• अर्जुनाम्: Arjuna-less (earth) / without Arjuna
• अर्जुनाम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: अर्जुना (अर्जुन)
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• वा: or
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: वा

• पृथिवीम्: the earth
• पृथिवीम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: पृथिवी
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• केशव: O Keshava
• Type: Noun
• Root: केशव
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• अनुचरिष्यसि: you will roam/follow (move about)
• अनुचरिष्यसि: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: अनु-चर्
• Form: Simple Future (Luṭ), Second, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Keśava (Kṛṣṇa)
• Arjuna
• Pṛthivī (the Earth)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

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.

What is happening in the narrative?

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.