Shloka 55
'मैंने तो अत्यन्त भयंकर एवं सर्वसंहारक अस्त्रका प्रयोग किया था; फिर उसने किस कारणसे इन मर्त्यधर्मा श्रीकृष्ण और अर्जुनका वध नहीं किया? ।। एतत् प्रब्रूहि भगवन् मया पृष्टो यथातथम् | श्रोतुमिच्छामि तत्त्वेन सर्वमेतन््महामुने,“भगवन्! महामुने! मैंने जो आपसे यह प्रश्न किया है, इसका मुझे यथार्थ उत्तर दीजिये। मैं यह सब कुछ ठीक-ठीक सुनना चाहता हूँ
etad prabrūhi bhagavan mayā pṛṣṭo yathātatham | śrotum icchāmi tattvena sarvam etan mahāmune ||
“O Blessed one, O great sage—tell me this exactly as it truly is, since I have asked you. I wish to hear, in accordance with the real truth, the whole matter: though a most dreadful, all-destroying weapon was employed, for what reason did it not slay Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna, who are subject to mortal conditions?”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds truthful inquiry (yathātatham, tattvena): even amid war and claims of irresistible power, one must seek the real cause behind events. It also points to the Mahābhārata’s recurring theme that mere force—even a ‘all-destroying’ astra—does not operate independently of higher order (dharma, destiny, and divine protection).
Sañjaya presses a revered sage for an exact explanation: despite the deployment of a terrifying, supposedly annihilating weapon, Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna were not killed. He asks for the true reason and requests a complete, accurate account.