Shloka 36
Cyavana’s Yogic Display and Kuśika’s Recognition of Tapas (च्यवन-योगप्रभावः कुशिकस्य तपःप्रशंसा च)
हवींषि सर्वाणि यथा हुपभुड्धक्ते हुताशन: । एवं त्वमपि धर्मात्मन् पुरुषाग्नि: प्रतापवान्
havīṁṣi sarvāṇi yathā hutabhug bhakṣate hutāśanaḥ | evaṁ tvam api dharmātman puruṣāgniḥ pratāpavān ||
Vyāsa said: “Just as the fire-god, the eater of oblations, consumes every offering poured into it, so too you, O righteous-souled one—mighty and blazing like a ‘fire among men’—have the power to burn away our faults and vices.”
व्यवन उवाच
Educational Q&A
A truly dharmic and powerful person is compared to sacrificial fire: as fire consumes offerings, such a person can ‘consume’ or burn away moral defects—through righteous authority, discipline, and purifying influence.
Vyāsa addresses a righteous, formidable figure and praises him with an Agni-simile, saying that he is like a human fire capable of destroying the listeners’ faults and vices.