Shloka 16

Droṇa-parva Adhyāya 49: Yudhiṣṭhira’s Lament and Strategic Foreboding after Abhimanyu’s Fall

Devanagari script

त॑ं तथा पतितं शूरं तावका: पर्यवारयन्‌ । दावं दग्ध्वा यथा शान्तं पावकं शिशिरात्यये,इस प्रकार रणभूमिमें गिरे हुए शूरवीर अभिमन्युको आपके सैनिकोंने चारों ओरसे घेर लिया। जैसे ग्रीष्म-ऋतुमें जंगलको जलाकर आग बुझ गयी हो, जिस प्रकार वायु वृक्षोंकी शाखाओंको तोड़-फोड़कर शान्त हो रही हो, जैसे संसारको संतप्त करके सूर्य अस्ताचलको चले गये हों, जैसे चन्द्रमापर ग्रहण लग गया हो तथा जैसे समुद्र सूख गया हो, उसी प्रकार समस्त कौरव-सेनाको संतप्त करके पूर्ण चन्द्रमाके समान मुखवाला अभिमन्यु पृथ्वीपर पड़ा था; उसके सिरके बड़े-बड़े बालों (काकपक्ष)-से उसकी आँखें ढक गयी थीं। उस दशामें उसे देखकर आपके महारथी बड़ी प्रसन्नताके साथ बारंबार सिंहनाद करने लगे

Transliteration

taṁ tathā patitaṁ śūraṁ tāvakāḥ paryavārayan | dāvaṁ dagdhvā yathā śāntaṁ pāvakaṁ śiśirātyaye ||

Translation

Sañjaya said: Seeing that hero fallen in such a state, your warriors surrounded him on every side. He lay there like a forest-fire that, after consuming the woodland in the heat of summer, has at last subsided—having scorched the whole host and then come to rest.

Word by Word

तम्him/that (one)

तथाthus, in that manner

पतितम्fallen

शूरम्hero, brave warrior

तावकाःyour men/your soldiers

पर्यवारयन्surrounded, encircled

दावम्forest-fire, conflagration

दग्ध्वाhaving burnt

यथाas, just as

शान्तम्quenched, calmed, extinguished

पावकम्fire

शिशिरात्ययेat the end of winter (i.e., at spring’s onset)

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Dhṛtarāṣṭra (implied addressee)

Kaurava warriors (tāvakāḥ)

Abhimanyu (context of the passage in Gītā Press)

forest-fire (dāva)

fire (pāvaka)

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The imagery of a wildfire that burns everything and then subsides highlights the tragic cost of martial glory: even the greatest valor ends in stillness, and the victors’ surrounding of the fallen can signal a lapse from righteous restraint into celebratory domination—inviting reflection on dharma and compassion amid war.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that the Kaurava fighters encircle the fallen hero on the battlefield. The simile compares the hero’s state to a forest-fire that has consumed the woods in summer and then died down, emphasizing both the devastation he caused and his final collapse.