Shloka 1
अपने-आप बछ। अर: - यह विष्णुवाहन गरुडसे भिन्न था। (मयदर्शनपर्व) सप्तविशत्यधिकद्धिशततमो< ध्याय: देवताओंकी पराजय, खाण्डववनका विनाश और मयासुरकी रक्षा वैशम्पायन उवाच तथा शैलनिपातेन भीषिता: खाण्डवालया: । दानवा राक्षसा नागास्तरक्ष्वृक्षवनौकस:,वैशम्पायनजी कहते हैं--जनमेजय! इस प्रकार पर्वतशिखरके गिरनेसे खाण्डववनमें रहनेवाले दानव, राक्षस, नाग, चीते तथा रीछ आदि वनचर प्राणी भयभीत हो उठे
vaiśampāyana uvāca | tathā śailanipātena bhīṣitāḥ khāṇḍavālayāḥ | dānavā rākṣasā nāgās tarakṣvṛkṣavanaukasaḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “O Janamejaya, as the mountain-peaks crashed down, the beings dwelling in the Khāṇḍava forest—Dānavas, Rākṣasas, Nāgas, and forest-dwellers such as leopards and bears—were struck with fear.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how sudden acts of overwhelming force (here, rockfalls during the Khāṇḍava upheaval) create fear and suffering for all beings in a shared environment, reminding the listener that power and conflict have wide, often indiscriminate consequences.
During the Khāṇḍava episode, a violent collapse of mountain-peaks/rocks terrifies the inhabitants of the forest—supernatural groups (Dānavas, Rākṣasas, Nāgas) as well as wild animals—signaling the onset of large-scale devastation in Khāṇḍava.