Shloka 35

Nala’s Embassy to Damayantī and the Gods’ Proposal (नलस्य दूतत्वं देवप्रस्तावश्च)

Devanagari script

यथैव कक्षमुत्सृष्टो दहेदनिलसारथि: । हनिष्यामि तथा मन्दमनुजानातु मे भवान्‌,“अपना निश्चय तो यही है कि कपटीको कपटसे ही मारना चाहिये। यदि आपकी आज्ञा हो तो जैसे तृणकी राशिमें डाली हुई आग हवाका सहारा पाकर उसे भस्म कर डालती है, वैसे ही मैं जाकर अपनी शक्तिके अनुसार उस मूढ़ दुर्योधनका वध कर डालूँ, अतः आप मुझे आज्ञा दीजिये

Transliteration

yathaiva kakṣam utsṛṣṭo dahed anila-sārathiḥ | haniṣyāmi tathā mandam anujānātu me bhavān ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana said: “Just as fire, once set into a heap of dry brushwood and driven by the wind, burns it to ashes, so too—if you grant me leave—I will go and, to the extent of my power, strike down that dull-witted Duryodhana. Please permit me.”

Word by Word

• {'yathā eva': 'just as, exactly in the same way', 'kakṣa': 'dry brushwood

• a thicket/heap of kindling', 'utsṛṣṭaḥ': 'released, set loose

• (here) kindled/let loose (of fire)', 'dahet': 'would burn (optative/conditional sense)', 'anila': 'wind', 'sārathiḥ': 'charioteer, driver

• metaphorically ‘one who drives’', 'anila-sārathiḥ': 'wind-driven (fire), ‘having the wind as its driver’', 'tathā': 'so, in that manner', 'haniṣyāmi': 'I will kill / I will slay', 'manda': 'dull, foolish, slow-witted', 'anujānātu': 'let (him/you) permit, grant leave', 'me': 'to me, my', 'bhavān': 'your honor

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Duryodhana
• fire (agni)
• wind (anila)
• brushwood/heap of kindling (kakṣa)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames decisive action against wrongdoing through a vivid metaphor, but places that action under the discipline of authorization and counsel—violence is proposed, yet it is not taken unilaterally; permission and right context are treated as ethically significant.

What is happening in the narrative?

The speaker (reported by Vaiśampāyana) uses the image of wind-driven fire consuming brushwood to express readiness to go and kill Duryodhana, explicitly asking a respected superior for leave to do so.