Shloka 24

उपायैः पूर्ववधकथनम् / Strategic Justifications for Prior Eliminations

Devanagari script

रात्रौ वंशवनस्येव दह्यमानस्य पर्वते

Transliteration

rātrau vaṁśavanasyeva dahyamānasya parvate

Translation

Sañjaya sprach: „In der Nacht erschien es wie ein Berg, dessen Bambushain in Flammen stand“—ein eindringliches Bild der Brände und des Tumults auf dem Schlachtfeld, das ahnen lässt, wie die Gewalt des Krieges die Natur selbst zum Schauspiel von Zerstörung und Grauen macht.

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.