Shloka 4
Adhyāya 195 — Arjuna’s Capability and Restraint Regarding Divyāstras
Udyoga Parva
ते शूराश्नित्रवर्माणस्तप्तकुण्डलधारिण: । आज्यावसिक्ता ज्वलिता धिष्ण्येष्विव हुताशना:
te śūrāś chitravarmāṇas taptakuṇḍaladhāriṇaḥ | ājyāvasiktā jvalitā dhiṣṇyeṣv iva hutāśanāḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana said: Those heroes, clad in splendid armor and wearing gleaming, heated-looking earrings, shone forth—like sacrificial fires on their altars, newly fed with clarified butter and blazing bright.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames warrior radiance and readiness through sacrificial symbolism: disciplined power is likened to sacred fire sustained by proper offering. It suggests that force, when aligned with dharma and restraint, is envisioned as purposeful and ritually ordered rather than chaotic.
The narrator describes a group of heroes assembled in the Udyoga Parva context, emphasizing their brilliant appearance—armor and earrings shining—by comparing them to altar-fires blazing after being fed with ghee.