Shloka 13
भीष्मधृतराष्ट्रसंवादः — पाण्डवबलप्रशंसा
Bhishma–Dhritarashtra Dialogue: Appraisal of Pandava Strength
अस्त्रवेगानिलोद्धूत: सेनाकक्षेन्धनोत्थित: । पाण्डुपुत्रस्य सैन्यानि प्रधक्ष्यति रणे धृत:
astravegāniloddhūtaḥ senākakṣendhanotthitaḥ | pāṇḍuputrasya sainyāni pradhakṣyati raṇe dhṛtaḥ ||
রণক্ষেত্রে অবিচল দ্রোণাচার্য অগ্নির মতো। অস্ত্রের বেগরূপী বায়ুতে উসকে উঠে, সেনারূপী শুকনো জ্বালানি পেয়ে তিনি দাউদাউ করে জ্বলে উঠবেন; আর জ্বলে উঠে পাণ্ডুপুত্রের সেনাদলকে যুদ্ধে দগ্ধ করবেন।
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that violence, once unleashed and supplied with conditions that sustain it (weapons, formations, resolve), grows like a fire—quickly becoming self-propagating and indiscriminate in its destruction. Ethically, it warns how war’s momentum can overwhelm restraint and consume entire communities.
Bhīṣma is forecasting battlefield outcomes: he describes a key warrior (implied by context to be a formidable commander) as a fire that will be fanned by the ‘wind’ of missiles and fed by the ‘fuel’ of dense armies, thereby burning down the forces of the Pāṇḍavas.