Shloka 24
मौसलपर्व — अध्याय ८
Arjuna’s evacuation of Dvārakā, Vasudeva’s rites, and the caravan’s crisis
श्र॒ुत्वैव हि गतं विष्णुं ममापि मुमुहुर्दिश: । प्रणष्टज्ञातिवीर्यस्य शून्यस्य परिधावत:
śrutvaiva hi gataṃ viṣṇuṃ mamāpi mumuhur diśaḥ | praṇaṣṭa-jñāti-vīryasya śūnyasya paridhāvataḥ ||
अर्जुन उवाच—श्रुत्वैव हि गतं विष्णुं ममापि मुमुहुर्दिशः। प्रणष्टज्ञातिवीर्यस्य शून्यस्य परिधावतः॥
अर्जुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores impermanence and the fragility of worldly supports: when the divine guide (Kṛṣṇa) and one’s kin-based strength are gone, even a great hero experiences inner emptiness and confusion, pointing to the need for steadiness grounded beyond external supports.
Arjuna reacts to the news that Kṛṣṇa has departed from the world. He describes a cosmic-like dizziness—‘the directions reeled’—and confesses that, with the loss of his relatives and their sustaining power, he ran about in a state of desolation and bewilderment.