Shloka 20
Droṇa-parva Adhyāya 53: Arjuna’s Jayadratha-vadha Pratijñā and Droṇa’s Protective Vyūha (शकटा-पद्म व्यूहः)
तामाहूय तदा देवो लोकादिनिधनेश्वर: । (उक्तवान् मधुरं वाक््यं सान्त्वयित्वा पुन: पुनः ।) मृत्यो इति महीपाल जहि चेमा: प्रजा इति,महीपाल! उस समय सम्पूर्ण लोकोंके आदि और अन्तके स्वामी ब्रह्माजीने उस नारीको अपने पास बुलाकर उसे बारंबार सान्त्वना देते हुए मधुर वाणीमें “मृत्यो” (हे मृत्यु) कह करके पुकारा और कहा--“तू इन समस्त प्रजाओंका संहार कर
tām āhūya tadā devo lokādinidhaneśvaraḥ | (uktavān madhuraṃ vākyaṃ sāntvayitvā punaḥ punaḥ |) mṛtyo iti mahīpāla jahi cemāḥ prajā iti ||
Then the god who is lord of the worlds’ beginning and end summoned her near. Repeatedly consoling her, he spoke in sweet words: “O Mṛtyu (Death),” he called, “O king, slay these creatures.” The passage frames death not as personal cruelty but as a divinely assigned function meant to uphold cosmic order, even when it appears harsh to embodied beings.
नारद उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse presents death as an ordained duty within dharma: destruction of beings is not merely violence but a necessary function for maintaining cosmic balance, administered under divine authority and tempered by compassion (consolation and sweet speech).
Nārada narrates that Brahmā, described as lord of the worlds’ origin and end, summons a female figure (contextually Mṛtyu/Death) and, after repeatedly consoling her, instructs her—addressed as “Mṛtyu”—to carry out the destruction of creatures.