Shloka 24

उपायैः पूर्ववधकथनम् / Strategic Justifications for Prior Eliminations

Devanagari script

रात्रौ वंशवनस्येव दह्यमानस्य पर्वते

Transliteration

rātrau vaṁśavanasyeva dahyamānasya parvate

Translation

قال سانجيا: «في الليل بدا كأنه جبلٌ اشتعلت غابته من الخيزران»—صورةٌ حيةٌ لحرائقِ ساحةِ القتالِ واضطرابها، تُوحي بأن عنفَ الحرب يحوّل العالمَ الطبيعيَّ إلى مشهدٍ من الدمارِ والرعب.

Word by Word

• रात्रौ: at night
• रात्रौ: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: रात्रि
• Form: Feminine, Locative, Singular

• वंशवनस्य: of a bamboo-grove
• वंशवनस्य: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: वंशवन
• Form: Neuter, Genitive, Singular

• इव: like/as if
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इव

• दह्यमानस्य: of (one) being burnt / burning
• Type: Adjective
• Root: दह्यमान
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Singular

• पर्वते: on/in the mountain
• पर्वते: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: पर्वत
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• bamboo-grove (vaṁśavana)
• mountain (parvata)
• night (rātri)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores war’s consuming nature: violence spreads like fire, transforming even what is ordinarily life-giving (a forest) into a scene of ruin, prompting reflection on the ethical cost of conflict.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya paints a night-time दृश्य (scene) of the battlefield by comparing it to a mountain with a bamboo forest burning—implying widespread flames, glare, and chaos in the ongoing fighting.