Shloka 13
भीष्मधृतराष्ट्रसंवादः — पाण्डवबलप्रशंसा
Bhishma–Dhritarashtra Dialogue: Appraisal of Pandava Strength
अस्त्रवेगानिलोद्धूत: सेनाकक्षेन्धनोत्थित: । पाण्डुपुत्रस्य सैन्यानि प्रधक्ष्यति रणे धृत:
astravegāniloddhūtaḥ senākakṣendhanotthitaḥ | pāṇḍuputrasya sainyāni pradhakṣyati raṇe dhṛtaḥ ||
Bhīṣma said: “Like a fire fanned by the wind of swift-flying missiles, and fed by the dry fuel of massed battalions, he—steadfast on the battlefield—will blaze up and burn down the armies of the sons of Pāṇḍu.” The verse frames war as a consuming force: once the conditions of violence are set in motion, it spreads rapidly, feeding on the very formations meant to sustain it, and threatens to annihilate those caught within it.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that violence, once unleashed and supplied with conditions that sustain it (weapons, formations, resolve), grows like a fire—quickly becoming self-propagating and indiscriminate in its destruction. Ethically, it warns how war’s momentum can overwhelm restraint and consume entire communities.
Bhīṣma is forecasting battlefield outcomes: he describes a key warrior (implied by context to be a formidable commander) as a fire that will be fanned by the ‘wind’ of missiles and fed by the ‘fuel’ of dense armies, thereby burning down the forces of the Pāṇḍavas.