Shloka 15

Devanagari script

पतड्जा इव वह्रिं ते प्राविशन्नल्पचेतस:

Transliteration

pataṅgā iva vahniṁ te prāviśann alpacetasaḥ

Translation

Dhṛtarāṣṭra said: “Those men of yours, of little discernment, rushed into the blazing fire as moths do—driven by blind impulse rather than wise counsel.”

Word by Word

• पतङ्गाः: moths/insects
• पतङ्गाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: पतङ्ग
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• इव: like/as
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इव

• वह्निम्: fire
• वह्निम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: वह्नि
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• ते: they (those)
• ते: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: युष्मद्
• Form: —, Nominative, Plural

• प्राविशन्: entered
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्र + विश्
• Form: Imperfect (Laṅ), 3rd, Plural, Parasmaipada

• अल्पचेतसः: of little understanding/foolish
• अल्पचेतसः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अल्पचेतस्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

Speaker

धृतराष्ट उवाच

Characters & Entities

• धृतराष्ट्र (Dhṛtarāṣṭra)
• वह्नि (fire)
• पतङ्ग (moths)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Impulsive courage without discernment becomes self-destruction; ethical leadership requires guiding people away from ruinous choices rather than letting them be consumed by passion and delusion.

What is happening in the narrative?

Dhṛtarāṣṭra laments that his own men, lacking sound judgment, plunged into deadly danger as if irresistibly drawn—like moths entering a flame—highlighting the tragic momentum of the war.