Shloka 7
सैन्यसंनिवेशः (Sainyasaṃniveśaḥ) — Deployment, Omens, and Yuddha-Dharma Conventions
शून्या च पृथिवी सर्वा बालवृद्धावशेषिता । निरश्वपुरुषेवासीदू रथकुञ्जरवर्जिता,समस्त पृथ्वीके सभी प्रदेश नवयुवकोंसे सूने हो रहे थे। उनमें केवल बालक और वृद्ध ही शेष रह गये थे। सारी वसुधा घोड़े, हाथी, रथ और तरुण पुरुषोंसे हीन-सी हो रही थी
śūnyā ca pṛthivī sarvā bāla-vṛddhāvaśeṣitā | niraśva-puruṣevāsīd ratha-kuñjaravarjitā ||
Vaiśaṃpāyana said: The whole earth seemed emptied out, with only children and the aged left behind. Deprived of horses and fighting men, and bereft of chariots and elephants, the land appeared as though its strength and vigor had been drained away—an ominous sign of society’s collapse under the weight of impending war.
वैशग्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the societal cost of war: when the able-bodied are drawn into conflict, the world is left to the vulnerable (children and the elderly). It implicitly warns that even when war is framed as kṣatriya-dharma, its consequences hollow out communities and disturb the natural balance of life.
As the Kurukṣetra conflict gathers force, the narrator describes the land as emptied of young men and the instruments of war—horses, chariots, and elephants—because they have been mobilized to the battlefield. The imagery functions as an ominous prelude, showing how the coming war drains the country of its vitality.