Shloka 4
Adhyāya 227: Duryodhana’s Deliberation and the Ghoṣa-yātrā Pretext
Dvaita-vana
निवसन्ति वने ये तु तस्मिंश्वैत्ररथे जना: । तेडब्रुवन्नेष नोडनर्थ: पावकेनाहितो महान्
nivasanti vane ye tu tasmiñ śvaitrarathe janāḥ | teḍ abruvann eṣa no 'narthaḥ pāvakena āhito mahān ||
Markandeya said: “Those people who dwell in that forest at Śvaitraratha spoke up: ‘This is a great calamity for us—set in motion by fire.’”
मार्कण्डेय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how a community recognizes and names impending harm, framing disaster as a moral and existential crisis; it sets up the ethical need for protection, right response, and responsibility in the face of destructive forces.
Mārkaṇḍeya reports the reaction of the people living in the Śvaitraratha forest: they speak collectively, lamenting that a great misfortune has arisen for them, caused by fire.