Shloka 20

Devanagari script

ध्वजोत्तमाग्रोच्छितधूमकेतु शरार्चिषं कोपमहासमीरम्‌ । महाथनुर्ज्यातलनेमिघोषं तनुत्रनानाविधशस्त्रहोमम्‌,“महासमरमें भीष्मरूपी अग्नि जब पाण्डव-सेनाको जला रही थी, उस समय ऊँची ध्वजाओंके शिखरपर फहराती हुई पताका ही धूमके समान जान पड़ती थी, बाण-वर्षा ही आगकी लपछें थीं, क्रोध ही प्रचण्ड वायु बनकर उस ज्वालाको बढ़ा रहा था, विशाल धनुषकी प्रत्यंचा, हथेली और रथके पहियोंका शब्द ही मानो उस अग्निदाहसे उठनेवाली चट-चट ध्वनि था, कवच और नाना प्रकारके अस्त्र-शस्त्र उस आगकी आहुति बन रहे थे, विशाल सेनारूपी सूखे जंगलमें दावानलके समान वह आग लगी थी, हाथमें लिये हुए अस्त्र-शस्त्र ही उस अग्निके प्रचण्ड वेग थे, ऐसे अग्निदाहके कष्टको जिन्होंने सह लिया, वे ही राजपुत्र प्रमादवश मारे गये

Transliteration

dhvajottamāgrochchita-dhūmaketuḥ śarārciṣaṁ kopamahā-samīram | mahādhanuḥ-jyā-tala-nemi-ghoṣaṁ tanūtrā-nānāvidha-śastra-homam ||

Translation

Sūta said: When the Bhīṣma-like fire of the great battle was burning through the Pāṇḍava host, the lofty banners seemed like its smoke; the shower of arrows was its tongues of flame; wrath became the fierce wind that fanned it. The thunder of the great bow’s string, the slap of the palm, and the rumble of chariot-wheels sounded like the crackling of that blaze, while armor and the many kinds of weapons served as its oblations.

Word by Word

ध्वज-उत्तम-अग्र-उच्छित-धूमकेतुhaving a smoke-banner raised on the foremost tips of excellent flags

शर-अर्चिषम्whose flames are arrows

कोप-महा-समीरम्having great wind as anger (anger as the mighty gale)

महा-धनुः-ज्या-तल-नेमि-घोषम्whose roar is the (sound of) great bowstrings, palms, and wheel-rims

तनुत्राण-नाना-विध-शस्त्र-होमम्having armor and various weapons as oblations

Speaker

सूत उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sūta

Bhīṣma

Pāṇḍava army

banners (dhvaja)

arrows (śara)

bow and bowstring (dhanuḥ, jyā)

chariot wheels (nemi)

armor (tanūtra)

weapons (śastra)

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

What is the core teaching?

The verse uses an extended fire-and-sacrifice metaphor to critique the moral dynamics of war: anger functions like a gale that magnifies destruction, and even those who withstand battle’s hardships can be undone by pramāda (carelessness). It implicitly urges vigilance and restraint, warning that wrath-driven conflict consumes indiscriminately.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sūta describes the great battle as a raging conflagration: banners resemble smoke, arrows become flames, the sounds of bowstring and chariots become the crackle of fire, and armor and weapons are cast as offerings. The imagery evokes the Pāṇḍava forces being burned by a Bhīṣma-like blaze on the battlefield.