Shloka 40
स्त्रीपर्व १: धृतराष्ट्रशोकः संजयाश्वासनं च
Strī Parva 1: Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Lament and Saṃjaya’s Consolation
त्वयैव ससुतेनायं वाक्यवायुसमीरित: । लोभाज्येन च संसिक्तो ज्वलित: पार्थपावक:,“पुत्रसहित आपने ही अपने लोभरूपी घीसे सींचकर और वचनरूपी वायुसे प्रेरित करके पार्थरूपी अग्निको प्रज्वलित किया था
tvayaiva sasutenāyaṃ vākyavāyusamīritaḥ | lobhājyena ca saṃsikto jvalitaḥ pārthapāvakaḥ ||
Vaiśaṃpāyana said: It was you yourself—together with your son—who fanned this fire of the Pārtha with the wind of provocative words, and who fed it with the ghee of greed, until it blazed.
वैशमग्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Destructive outcomes are often ignited and sustained by human choices: greedy intent (lobha) supplies the fuel, and manipulative or inflammatory speech (vākya) provides the wind. The verse assigns moral responsibility to those who incite conflict rather than treating calamity as impersonal destiny.
In the lamenting context of the Strī Parva, the speaker points to culpability for the war’s eruption: the ‘fire’ identified with Pārtha (Arjuna/the Pāṇḍava force) was deliberately provoked and intensified by another party acting with his son—through words that stirred hostility and through greed that kept the conflict burning.