Shloka 39
Jayadrathasya śoka-bhaya-vilāpaḥ — Droṇena āśvāsanaṃ ca
Jayadratha’s lament and Droṇa’s reassurance
तस्य चिन्ता समुत्पन्ना संहारं प्रति पार्थिव । चिन्तयन्न हासौ वेद संहारं वसुधाधिप,आदिसृष्टिके समय महातेजस्वी एवं शक्तिशाली पितामह ब्रह्माने जब प्रजावर्गकी सृष्टि की थी, उस समय संहारकी कोई व्यवस्था नहीं की थी, अतः इस सम्पूर्ण जगत्को प्राणियोंसे परिपूर्ण एवं मृत्युरहित देख प्राणियोंके संहारके लिये चिन्तित हो उठे। राजन! पृथ्वीपते! बहुत सोचने-विचारनेपर भी ब्रह्माजीको प्राणियों-के संहारका कोई उपाय नहीं ज्ञात हो सका
tasya cintā samutpannā saṃhāraṃ prati pārthiva | cintayann hāsau veda saṃhāraṃ vasudhādhipa || ādisṛṣṭike samaye mahātejasvī evaṃ śaktiśālī pitāmaha brahmāṇe yadā prajā-vargasya sṛṣṭiṃ kṛtavān tadā saṃhārasya kācid vyavasthā na kṛtā | ataḥ saṃpūrṇaṃ jagat prāṇibhiḥ paripūrṇaṃ mṛtyu-rahitaṃ ca dṛṣṭvā prāṇināṃ saṃhārāya cintito 'bhavat | rājan! pṛthvīpate! bahu cintayitvāpi brahmāṇo prāṇināṃ saṃhārasya kaṃcid upāyaṃ na jñātavān ||
Nārada said: “O king, lord of the earth, a grave concern arose in him about how dissolution could be brought about. Though he pondered deeply, he could not discern any means of destruction. For at the time of the first creation, the mighty and supremely powerful Grandsire Brahmā, having produced the multitude of creatures, had not established any ordinance for their ending. Seeing the whole world crowded with living beings and free from death, he became anxious, seeking a way to bring about the necessary dissolution of creatures. Yet, even after much reflection, Brahmā found no method by which beings might be brought to an end.”
नारद उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames death and dissolution as necessary components of cosmic order: creation without an ordained end leads to imbalance (overcrowding, stagnation). Even Brahmā’s creative power requires a complementary principle of saṃhāra to sustain dharma and the world’s functioning.
Nārada narrates that after the first creation, Brahmā realizes he has not instituted any mechanism for beings to die. Seeing a world full of deathless creatures, he becomes troubled and searches for a means of dissolution, but cannot find a solution despite prolonged contemplation.