Shloka 16

Devanagari script

एष पाण्डुसुतस्तात श्वेताश्वः कृष्णसारथि: । दहते मामकानू्‌ सर्वान्‌ कृष्णवर्त्मेव काननम्‌,'तात! ये श्वेत घोड़ोंवाले पाण्डुपुत्र अर्जुन, जिनके सारथि श्रीकृष्ण हैं, मेरे सारे सैनिकोंको उसी प्रकार दग्ध करते हैं, जैसे दावानल वनको

Transliteration

eṣa pāṇḍusutas tāta śvetāśvaḥ kṛṣṇasārathiḥ | dahate māmakānūn sarvān kṛṣṇavartmeva kānanam ||

Translation

Sañjaya sprach: „Verehrter Vater! Das ist der Sohn Pāṇḍus, Arjuna, dessen Wagen von weißen Rossen gezogen wird und dessen Lenker Kṛṣṇa ist. Er verbrennt all unsere Krieger, wie ein Waldbrand den Forst verzehrt.“

Word by Word

एषःthis (man)

पाण्डु-सुतःson of Pāṇḍu

तातO dear one / O father (term of address)

श्वेत-अश्वःhaving white horses / white-horsed

कृष्ण-सारथिःwhose charioteer is Kṛṣṇa

दहतेburns / scorches

मामकान्my (men) / belonging to me

सर्वान्all

कृष्ण-वर्त्माblack-tracked (fire) / dark-pathed (conflagration)

इवlike, as

काननम्forest

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Dhṛtarāṣṭra

Arjuna

Kṛṣṇa

Pāṇḍu

Kaurava army (māmakāḥ)

white horses (śvetāśvāḥ)

forest (kānanam)

wildfire/forest-fire (implied by dahate ... kānanam)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how power in war becomes impersonal and sweeping—like fire—while also pointing to the ethical dimension that Arjuna’s effectiveness is inseparable from Kṛṣṇa’s guidance. It suggests that martial success, when aligned with rightful purpose and wise counsel, becomes decisive, yet still carries the grave cost of widespread destruction.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that Arjuna, with Kṛṣṇa as his charioteer and a chariot drawn by white horses, is devastating the Kaurava forces. The simile of a forest consumed by wildfire conveys the speed and totality of the rout.