Mahabharata — Shalya Parva, Shloka 326

Devanagari script

द्रौणि: क्रोधेन जज्वाल यथा वदल्विर्जगत्क्षये । राजा दुर्योधनको शोकके आँसू बहाते देख अश्वत्थामा प्रलयकालकी अग्निके समान क्रोधसे प्रजजलित हो उठा

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca |

drauṇiḥ krodhena jajvāla yathā vaḍavāgnir jagatkṣaye |

Translation

Sañjaya said: Drauṇi (Aśvatthāmā), seeing King Duryodhana overwhelmed with grief and shedding tears, blazed up with wrath like the submarine fire at the end of the world. The scene underscores how sorrow and defeat can provoke a destructive, apocalyptic anger that eclipses restraint and dharma in the aftermath of war.

Word by Word

• द्रौणिः: Drauni (Aśvatthāman), son of Droṇa
• द्रौणिः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: द्रौणि
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• क्रोधेन: with anger / by anger
• क्रोधेन: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: क्रोध
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Singular

• जज्वाल: blazed, flared up
• Type: Verb
• Root: ज्वल्
• Form: Perfect (Liṭ), Third, Singular

• यथा: as, like
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यथा

• वडविः: the submarine fire (Vadava-fire)
• वडविः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: वडव
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• जगत्क्षये: at the destruction of the world
• जगत्क्षये: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: जगत्-क्षय
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Drauṇi (Aśvatthāmā)
• Droṇa
• Duryodhana
• Vaḍavāgni (submarine fire)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how unchecked anger, especially when fueled by grief and humiliation, can become catastrophically destructive—likened to a world-ending fire—warning that emotional collapse after war can push one further away from dharma and restraint.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes Aśvatthāmā (Drauṇi) erupting in fierce rage upon seeing Duryodhana in sorrow and tears, foreshadowing retaliatory, extreme actions in the war’s grim aftermath.