Shloka 29
Adhyāya 61: Saṃmohana-astra and the Kuru Withdrawal (संमोहनास्त्रं तथा कुरुनिवृत्तिः)
“आज देख लेना, जैसे प्रबल वेगसे आयी हुई जलकी बाढ़ किनारोंको काट-काटकर गिरा देती है, उसी प्रकार मैं कौरवदलके सैन्यसमूहोंको मार गिराऊँगा ।।
ajña dekh lena, yathā prabala-vegasa āyā huī jalakī bāḍha kinārān ko kāṭa-kāṭa kar girā detī hai, usī prakāraṃ ahaṃ kaurava-dalasya sainya-samūhān mārayiṣyāmi. dhvaja-vṛkṣaṃ pattitṛṇaṃ ratha-siṃha-gaṇāyutam | vanam ādīpayiṣyāmi kurūṇām astra-tejasā ||
„Heute sollt ihr es sehen: Wie eine Flut, die mit unwiderstehlichem Drang heranstürzt, die Ufer Stück um Stück wegfrisst und sie zu Fall bringt, so werde ich die dicht geschlossenen Scharen des Kaurava-Heeres niederstrecken. Das Heer der Kauravas gleicht einem Wald: Seine Banner sind die Bäume, seine Fußsoldaten Gras und Stroh, und seine Wagen sind die Löwen darin. Mit der lodernden Macht meiner Waffen werde ich heute diesen Kuru-Wald in Brand setzen und zu Asche machen.“
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses vivid metaphors to convey the overwhelming momentum of martial resolve: an army can be imagined as a ‘forest’ that can be consumed by the ‘fire’ of weapon-power. Ethically, it highlights the kṣatriya ideal of decisive action and the rhetoric of vows in war, while also implicitly warning that massed power—like a flood or fire—brings sweeping, often uncontrollable destruction.
A warrior (reported by Vaiśampāyana) proclaims a fierce vow to annihilate the Kaurava forces. He compares his impending assault to a flood eroding riverbanks and to a fire that will burn a forest—identifying banners as trees, infantry as grass, and chariots as lions—announcing that he will ‘ignite’ the Kuru host with the brilliance of his weapons.