Shloka 18
Devanagari script
महागिरौ वेणुवनं निशि प्रज्वलितं यथा
Transliteration
mahāgirau veṇuvanaṁ niśi prajvalitaṁ yathā
Translation
Sañjaya said: “It was like a bamboo-grove on a great mountain blazing in the night.”
Word by Word
महागिरौon the great mountain
महागिरौ:
Adhikarana
TypeNoun
Rootमहागिरि
FormMasculine, Locative, Singular
वेणुवनम्a bamboo-grove
वेणुवनम्:
Karta
TypeNoun
Rootवेणुवन
FormNeuter, Nominative, Singular
निशिat night
निशि:
Adhikarana
TypeNoun
Rootनिशा
FormFeminine, Locative, Singular
प्रज्वलितम्blazing, kindled
प्रज्वलितम्:
Karta
TypeAdjective
Rootप्र+ज्वल्
FormNeuter, Nominative, Singular
यथाas, like
यथा:
Adhikarana
TypeIndeclinable
Rootयथा
Speaker
संजय उवाच
Characters & Entities
S
SañjayaM
mahāgiri (great mountain)V
veṇuvana (bamboo-grove)Character Dynamics
Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)
War Context
Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)
Philosophical Teaching
Political Layer
Geographic Context
Cross References
Meter (Chandas)
Sandhi Notes
Educational Q&A
The verse uses a stark simile to highlight how violence can appear dazzling and irresistible even amid moral darkness; it implicitly warns that the ‘brightness’ of power and fury in war is inseparable from devastation.
Sañjaya is describing the battlefield scene to Dhṛtarāṣṭra, comparing what he sees to a bamboo-grove on a great mountain burning in the night—emphasizing the intense, spreading blaze-like spectacle of the combat.