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 |
Sañjaya dit : «Ou bien, ô Keśava, erreras-tu sur une terre privée d’Arjuna ? Keśava ! Aujourd’hui, ou je rendrai cette terre déserte des fils de Dhṛtarāṣṭra et la remettrai au droit de mes frères, ou bien tu marcheras sur un monde sans Arjuna.»
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.