Shloka 101
धर्मस्य बहुद्वारत्वम् — Nārada’s Audience with Indra (Śānti-parva 340)
उस समयके लोग कहेंगे कि “ये ईश्वररूप नर और नारायण नामक ऋषि ही एक साथ उद्यत हो लोकहितके लिये क्षत्रियजातिका संहार कर रहे हैं ।।
tadā lokā vadiṣyanti—“eṣa īśvararūpo naraś ca nārāyaṇanāmā ṛṣiś caivaikatra samudyatāv lokahitāya kṣatriyajātisaṃhāraṃ kurutaḥ” || kṛtvā bhārāvataraṇaṃ vasudhāyā yathepsitam | sarvasātvatamukhyānāṃ dvārakāyāś ca sattama ||
Bhīṣma dit : «En ce temps-là, on déclarera : “Ces deux-là—Nara, qui porte la forme du Seigneur, et le sage nommé Nārāyaṇa—se sont levés ensemble et, pour le bien du monde, ont provoqué la destruction de la race des Kṣatriya.” Ayant ainsi, comme on le souhaitait, allégé le fardeau de la terre, ô le meilleur des hommes, on les évoquera aussi en lien avec les plus éminents des Sātvata et avec Dvārakā.»
(भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames catastrophic war as a providential act aimed at restoring cosmic and social balance (lokahita). It presents the destruction of an unrighteous Kṣatriya order as part of bhārāvataraṇa—relieving the earth’s burden—under the agency of divine-sage figures (Nara and Nārāyaṇa), emphasizing that power must ultimately serve dharma and the welfare of the world.
Bhīṣma predicts how people will interpret events: Nara and the sage Nārāyaṇa are seen as acting together to bring about the downfall of the Kṣatriyas for the world’s good. The verse then alludes to the completion of the earth’s burden being lifted and connects this outcome with the leading Sātvatas and the city of Dvārakā, pointing toward Kṛṣṇa’s Yādava milieu as part of the larger divine plan.