Shloka 36
Vyāsa’s Consolation to Yudhiṣṭhira: Tapas, Kāla, and the Difficulty of Dāna (दान-तपस्-विवेकः)
पाण्डवा: प्रत्यदृश्यन्त ज्वलिता इव पावका: । फिर नाना प्रकारके दिव्य आयुध हाथमें लिये, कवच धारण करके रथोंपर आरूढ़ हो ध्वज और धनुषसे सुशोभित वे समस्त पाण्डव प्रज्वलित अग्नियोंके समान दिखायी देने लगे
vaiśampāyana uvāca | pāṇḍavāḥ pratyadṛśyanta jvalitā iva pāvakāḥ |
Dijo Vaiśampāyana: Los Pāṇḍavas aparecieron a la vista como fuegos llameantes. Armados con diversas armas divinas, revestidos de armadura, subidos a sus carros y engalanados con estandartes y arcos, se mostraban radiantes y formidables: imagen de un poder disciplinado reunido para un propósito justo.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames martial strength as meaningful when disciplined and aligned with dharma: the Pāṇḍavas’ splendour is not mere display, but the outward sign of readiness to act according to kṣatriya responsibility, with power portrayed as purifying and decisive like fire.
The narrator describes the Pāṇḍavas becoming visible in a heightened, heroic tableau—armoured, chariot-borne, bearing banners and bows and (by context) divine weapons—so radiant that they resemble blazing fires, signalling an imminent confrontation or decisive action.