Shloka 353

Devanagari script

पेतुरन्ये महाकाया: प्रदीप्ते वसुरेतसि । वे तथा दूसरे विशालकाय प्राणी चक्रके वेगसे शरीर और मस्तक छिन्न-भिन्न हो जानेके कारण निर्जीव हो प्रज्वलित आगमें गिर पड़ते थे

Transliteration

petur anye mahākāyāḥ pradīpte vasuretasi |

Translation

Vaiśampāyana sprach: Andere riesenleibige Wesen, deren Körper und Häupter von der wilden Gewalt des Rades zerschmettert wurden, stürzten leblos in das lodernde Feuer—ein Bild dafür, wie ungezügelte Zerstörungskraft selbst die Mächtigen zu hilfloser Vernichtung macht.

Word by Word

पेतुःfell

अन्येothers

महाकायाःhuge-bodied

प्रदीप्तेin the blazing (fire)

वसुरेतसिin the fire (lit. having Vasus as essence/seed)

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

mahākāyāḥ (gigantic beings)

pradīpta-agni (blazing fire)

cakra (wheel) (implied by the Hindi gloss)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The passage underscores the moral gravity of destructive force: physical might and size offer no protection when violence is unleashed; actions driven by overwhelming power culminate in inevitable ruin and suffering.

What is happening in the narrative?

A violent episode is being described: gigantic beings are struck with such force (understood as the wheel’s momentum) that their bodies and heads are mangled; they die and tumble into a blazing fire.