Shloka 16
शरातुरास्तथैवान्ये दन्तिनो विद्रुता दिश:
śarāturās tathaivānye dantino vidrutā diśaḥ | agnir yathendhanaṃ prāpya dīpyate jvalitārcibhiḥ | tathā pāṇḍava-senāṃ sa dagdhvā tejasā tava sutaḥ duḥśāsanaḥ prajvalita iva babhūva ||
Sanjaya berkata: Disiksa oleh anak panah, banyak gajah lain pun lari ke segala penjuru. Dan sebagaimana api, ketika memperoleh bahan bakar, menyala dengan lidah-lidah nyala yang terang dan berkobar dengan dahsyat, demikian pula putramu Duhshasana—membakar bala Pāṇḍava—tampak menyala oleh gairahnya sendiri.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses the fire-and-fuel simile to show how martial energy (tejas) can rapidly intensify when fed by aggression, becoming destructive and indiscriminate. Implicitly, it points to the ethical need for restraint and dharmic intention in warfare, lest prowess turn into a consuming blaze.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that elephants, pained by arrow-strikes, are scattering in all directions. In the same breath he depicts Duḥśāsana as surging forward like a fire newly fed with fuel, scorching the Pāṇḍava forces with heightened ferocity.