Shloka 1443
Sauptika Parva, Adhyaya 8 — Dhṛṣṭadyumna-vadha and the Camp’s Nocturnal Rout
युगान्ते सर्वभूतानि भस्म कृत्वेव पावक: । जैसे प्रलयकालमें आग सम्पूर्ण प्राणियोंको भस्म करके प्रकाशित होती है, उसी प्रकार वह नरसंहार हो जानेपर अपने दुर्गम लक्ष्यतक पहुँचकर अश्वत्थामा अधिक शोभा पाने लगा
yugānte sarvabhūtāni bhasma kṛtveva pāvakaḥ |
Sañjaya said: “At the end of an age, Fire seems to blaze forth after reducing all beings to ash. In the same way, once the slaughter was done, Aśvatthāmā—having reached his hard-to-attain objective—appeared all the more resplendent.” The simile underscores a grim moral contrast: outward ‘splendor’ born from annihilation, where success in war is depicted with the terrifying radiance of cosmic destruction rather than with dharmic glory.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames Aśvatthāmā’s ‘success’ through the image of yugānta-fire: a brilliance inseparable from total ruin. It implicitly questions triumph achieved through indiscriminate killing, suggesting that such radiance is closer to apocalyptic destruction than to dharmic honor.
Sañjaya describes Aśvatthāmā after the massacre: having carried out the slaughter and reached his difficult goal, he appears more ‘splendid.’ The narration uses a cosmic simile (fire at the end of an age) to convey the terrifying intensity of the aftermath.