Shloka 59
द्रोणपर्व — अध्याय १६२: प्रातःसंध्यायां युद्धप्रवृत्तिः तथा रजोमेघे संमूढता
स निहत्य बहुन् शूरानश्वत्थामा व्यरोचत । युगान्ते सर्वभूतानि भस्म कृत्वेव पावक:,जैसे प्रलयकालमें अग्निदेव सम्पूर्ण भूतोंको भस्म करके प्रकाशित होते हैं, उसी प्रकार अश्व॒ृत्थामा वहाँ बहुसंख्यक शूरवीरोंका वध करके सुशोभित हो रहा था
sa nihatya bahūn śūrān aśvatthāmā vyarocata | yugānte sarvabhūtāni bhasma kṛtveva pāvakaḥ ||
Sañjaya said: Having slain many heroic warriors, Aśvatthāmā shone forth on the battlefield—like the fire at the end of an age, which blazes after reducing all beings to ashes.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses a yugānta (end-of-age) fire simile to show how brilliance can arise from devastation, prompting reflection on the ethical ambiguity of martial glory: power and splendor in war may be inseparable from catastrophic harm.
Sañjaya reports that Aśvatthāmā, after killing many brave fighters, appears radiant on the battlefield; his appearance is compared to cosmic fire at dissolution, emphasizing the scale and terror of his destructive momentum.