Shloka 10
जतुगृहदाहः — The Burning of the Lac House and the Pāṇḍavas’ Concealed Escape
असमाप्ते ततस्तस्य वचने वदतां वर । यन्त्रोत्क्षिप्त इवोत्तस्थी क्षिप्रं वै सर्वती जन:,वक्ताओंमें श्रेष्ठ जनमेजय! कर्णकी बात अभी पूरी ही न हो पायी थी कि सब ओरके मनुष्य तुरंत उठकर खड़े हो गये, मानो उन्हें किसी यन्त्रसे एक साथ उठा दिया गया हो
asamāpte tataḥ tasya vacane vadatāṃ vara | yantrotkṣipta ivottasthī kṣipraṃ vai sarvatī janaḥ ||
Dijo Vaiśaṃpāyana: «Oh Janamejaya, el mejor de los oradores: antes de que sus palabras hubieran terminado, la gente de todas partes se puso en pie de un salto—con tal rapidez, como si un solo mecanismo los hubiera alzado a la vez.»
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how swiftly collective emotion can be stirred: even before a speech concludes, a crowd may react in a unified, almost mechanical way. It implicitly cautions that public response can be sudden and contagious, not always guided by deliberation.
Vaiśaṃpāyana narrates to King Janamejaya that, while the speaker’s words were still unfinished, people all around abruptly stood up at once, as though some device had lifted them together—signaling a dramatic, immediate reaction to what was being said.