Shloka 15
Udyoga-parva Adhyāya 47 — Arjuna’s Deterrent Declaration
Sañjaya’s Report
कृष्णवर्त्मेंव ज्वलित: समिद्धो यथा दहेत् कक्षमन्निर्निंदाघे । एवं दग्धा धार्तराष्ट्रस्य सेनां युधिष्ठिर: क्रोधदीप्तो<न्ववेक्ष्य,जैसे ग्रीष्म-ऋतुमें प्रजज्लित अग्नि सब ओरसे धधक उठती और घास-फूस एवं जंगलोंको जलाकर भस्म कर देती है, उसी प्रकार क्रोधसे तमतमाये हुए युधिष्ठिर दुर्योधनकी सेनाको अपने दृष्टिपातमात्रसे दग्ध कर देंगे
sañjaya uvāca | kṛṣṇavartmeva jvalitaḥ samiddho yathā dahet kakṣam agnir nidāghe | evaṃ dagdhā dhārtarāṣṭrasya senāṃ yudhiṣṭhiraḥ krodhadīpto 'nvavekṣya ||
Sañjaya said: “As, in the heat of summer, a blazing fire—its path marked by dark smoke—when fully kindled, burns up dry grass and thickets, so too will Yudhiṣṭhira, inflamed with wrath, scorch the army of Dhṛtarāṣṭra merely by casting his gaze upon it.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse warns that even a normally restrained, dharma-oriented leader can become devastating when provoked: anger, when kindled in one who possesses moral authority and royal power, can turn into an unstoppable force—like summer fire consuming dry brush—thereby urging prudence, restraint, and timely reconciliation before destruction becomes inevitable.
Sañjaya, reporting events and moods in the Udyoga Parva’s pre-war negotiations, describes Yudhiṣṭhira’s wrath as so intense that the Kaurava host would be ‘burnt’ merely by his look—an emphatic simile forecasting the coming devastation if the conflict is not averted.