Shloka 13
Droṇa-parva Adhyāya 53: Arjuna’s Jayadratha-vadha Pratijñā and Droṇa’s Protective Vyūha (शकटा-पद्म व्यूहः)
अभावं नेह गच्छेयुरुत्सन्नजनना: प्रजा: । आदिदेव नियुक्तो5स्मि त्वया लोकेषु लोककृत्
abhāvaṃ neha gaccheyur utsannajananāḥ prajāḥ | ādideva niyukto 'smi tvayā lokeṣu lokakṛt ||
नारद बोले—यदि ऐसा न हो, तो सन्तान-रहित प्रजाएँ यहीं अभाव को प्राप्त हो जाएँ। हे लोकों के स्रष्टा, आदिदेव! आपने ही मुझे लोकों में कार्य करने के लिए नियुक्त किया है।
नारद उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames social and cosmic continuity as a dharmic necessity: if generational succession and rightful ordering collapse, beings drift toward ‘abhāva’ (non-existence). It also emphasizes that even exalted sages act by divine appointment, serving the maintenance of the worlds.
Nārada speaks to a supreme divine figure addressed as Ādideva and Lokakṛt, explaining that his activity among the worlds is not self-willed but commissioned. He justifies the need for such oversight by warning that, without proper generative continuity, the peoples would perish.