Shloka 103

Devanagari script

ददाह तद्‌ वन॑ घोरं मृगपक्षिसमाकुलम्‌ | हवासे उड़ी हुई चिनगारियों तथा ज्वालाओंद्वारा चारों और फैलकर उस दावानलने पशु-पक्षियोंसे भरे हुए भयंकर वनको जलाना आरम्भ किया

Transliteration

dadāha tad vanaṁ ghoraṁ mṛga-pakṣi-samākulam |

Translation

Bhishma said: The fierce wildfire began to consume that dreadful forest, crowded with beasts and birds, as sparks and tongues of flame spread in every direction.

Word by Word

• ददाह: burned / set on fire
• ददाह: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: दह्
• Form: लिट् (परोक्शभूत/परफेक्ट), परस्मैपद, प्रथम, एकवचन

• तत्: that
• तत्: Karma
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: नपुंसक, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• वनम्: forest
• वनम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: वन
• Form: नपुंसक, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• घोरम्: terrible, dreadful
• घोरम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: घोर
• Form: नपुंसक, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• मृगपक्षिसमाकुलम्: crowded with deer and birds
• मृगपक्षिसमाकुलम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: समाकुल
• Form: नपुंसक, द्वितीया, एकवचन

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• vana (forest)
• dāvānala (wildfire, implied by context)
• mṛga (wild animals)
• pakṣi (birds)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse uses the image of a spreading forest fire to highlight ethical causality: when destructive impulses or actions are unleashed, they expand beyond control and harm many who are not responsible. It cautions toward restraint, foresight, and dharmic governance of anger and violence.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhishma describes a terrifying wildfire spreading through a forest packed with animals and birds, burning it as sparks and flames scatter everywhere. The description functions as vivid narrative imagery and as a moral illustration of indiscriminate devastation.