Shloka 19
अर्जुनस्य अन्त्येष्टि, द्वारकाप्लावनम्, कलिप्रवेशः, कालोपदेशः
ततो निवृत्य कौन्तेयः प्राहाभीरान् हसन्न् इव निवर्तध्वम् अधर्मज्ञा यदि न स्थ मुमूर्षवः
tato nivṛtya kaunteyaḥ prāhābhīrān hasann iva nivartadhvam adharmajñā yadi na stha mumūrṣavaḥ
Then Kauṇteya (Arjuna), turning back, spoke to the Ābhīras with a faint, almost smiling contempt: “Withdraw! You who know adharma—unless indeed you stand here resolved to die.”
Narrator (Sage Parāśara) recounting events; the direct speech is by Kauṇteya (Arjuna).
Concept: Even in crisis, the appeal to dharma—‘withdraw if you know dharma’—marks righteous force as distinct from predation.
Vedantic Theme: Dharma
Application: Confront wrongdoing firmly but with a dharmic standard: warn, offer exit, and act only to protect.
Vishishtadvaita: Dharma is not merely social convention but participation in the Lord’s moral order; invoking it is invoking that higher sovereignty.
FAQs
The verse frames battle as morally bounded: Arjuna’s warning makes withdrawal the dharmic option for those acting unrighteously, implying that force is justified only to restore order.
Through narrated exempla: Parāśara reports a Kṣatriya hero using restraint and moral warning before violence, modeling governance and warfare as instruments of dharma rather than mere conquest.
Even when Vishnu is not named in the line, the Purana’s underlying theology treats dharma as sustained by Vishnu’s sovereignty; righteous action in history is implicitly aligned with the divine order Vishnu upholds.