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 said: Other huge-bodied beings, their bodies and heads shattered by the wheel’s violent force, fell lifeless into the blazing fire—an image of how unchecked destructive power reduces even the mighty to helpless ruin.

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

Cross References

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.