Shloka 1013
धर्मस्य बहुद्वारत्वम् — Nārada’s Audience with Indra (Śānti-parva 340)
करिष्ये प्रलयं घोरमात्मज्ञातिविनाशनम् | साधुशिरोमणे! पृथ्वीदेवीकी इच्छाके अनुसार उसका भार उतारकर मैं द्वारकाके समस्त यादव-शिरोमणियोंका नाश करके अपनी जातिका विनाशरूप घोर कर्म करूँगा
kariṣye pralayaṃ ghoraṃ ātma-jñāti-vināśanam | sādhu-śiromaṇe! pṛthivī-devyā icchānusāreṇa tasyā bhāram avatārya dvārakāyāḥ samastān yādava-śiromaṇīn nāśayiṣyāmi sva-jāti-vināśa-rūpaṃ ghoraṃ karma kariṣyāmi |
Bhishma said: “I shall bring about a dreadful dissolution—one that destroys my own kinsmen. O best among the righteous! In accordance with the wish of the Earth-goddess, after lightening her burden, I will annihilate all the foremost Yadavas of Dvārakā, and thus perform a terrible deed whose very nature is the destruction of my own lineage.”
(भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even actions that appear horrific can be framed within the Mahābhārata’s idea of restoring cosmic balance: when adharma becomes a ‘burden of the Earth,’ destruction may be presented as a grim instrument of dharma. Yet the verse also highlights ethical tragedy—dharma can demand acts that entail personal loss and the ruin of one’s own kin, underscoring the weight of karma and responsibility.
Bhīṣma declares an intention to enact a dreadful ‘pralaya’ by destroying the leading Yādavas of Dvārakā, explicitly linking this to Pṛthivī-devī’s wish to have her burden removed. The statement situates the coming annihilation of the Yādava clan as part of a larger, divinely-aligned rebalancing of the world.