Shloka 453

Devanagari script

निरर्जुनां वा पृथिवीं केशवानुचरिष्यसि । “केशव! या तो आज इस पृथ्वीको धृतराष्ट्रपुत्रोंसे सूनी करके अपने भाईके अधिकारमें दे दूँगा या आप अर्जुनरहित पृथ्वीपर विचरेंगे

Transliteration

nirarjunāṃ vā pṛthivīṃ keśavānucariṣyasi |

Translation

കേശവാ! ഇന്ന് ഞാൻ ധൃതരാഷ്ട്രപുത്രന്മാരാൽ ഈ ഭൂമിയെ ശൂന്യമാക്കി എന്റെ സഹോദരന്റെ അധികാരത്തിൽ ഏല്പിക്കും; അല്ലെങ്കിൽ നിങ്ങൾ അർജുനനില്ലാത്ത ഭൂമിയിൽ സഞ്ചരിക്കും.

Word by Word

• निः: without; free from
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: निः

• अर्जुनाम्: Arjuna-less (earth) / without Arjuna
• अर्जुनाम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: अर्जुना (अर्जुन)
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• वा: or
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: वा

• पृथिवीम्: the earth
• पृथिवीम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: पृथिवी
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• केशव: O Keshava
• Type: Noun
• Root: केशव
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• अनुचरिष्यसि: you will roam/follow (move about)
• अनुचरिष्यसि: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: अनु-चर्
• Form: Simple Future (Luṭ), Second, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Keśava (Kṛṣṇa)
• Arjuna
• Pṛthivī (the Earth)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores how dharma in the epic is person-centered: the fall of a righteous protector (Arjuna) is imagined as making the world itself ethically diminished. It highlights the catastrophic moral cost of war—victory or survival is hollow if it results in a world emptied of its dharmic guardians.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya, narrating the battlefield events to Dhṛtarāṣṭra, evokes a stark alternative: Kṛṣṇa (Keśava) might have to traverse an earth ‘without Arjuna.’ It is a rhetorical intensification of the moment’s peril, emphasizing the possibility of Arjuna’s defeat and the resulting desolation.