Shloka 33

Devanagari script

निर्दहन्‌ नागलोकांश्षव पातालतलचारिण: । अथान्तरिक्षे सुमहन्नानावर्णा: पयोधरा:,“फिर पातालतलमें विचरण करनेवाले नागलोकोंको भी वे भस्म कर डालते हैं। कालाग्निद्वारा सब कुछ भस्म हो जानेपर आकाशमें अनेक रंगके महान्‌ मेघोंकी घोर घटा घिर आती है

Transliteration

nirdahan nāgalokān śva-pātālatala-cāriṇaḥ | athāntarikṣe sumahān nānāvarṇāḥ payodharāḥ |

Translation

Ia membakar bahkan dunia-dunia Nāga yang bergerak di lapisan Pātāla. Lalu, ketika segala sesuatu telah menjadi abu oleh Api Waktu, di angkasa berkumpul gumpalan dahsyat awan-awan raksasa beraneka warna.

Word by Word

निर्दहन्burning up, consuming

नागलोकान्the worlds/realms of the Nāgas

चand, also

अपिeven, also

पातालतलचारिणःthose who move about on the floor of Pātāla (netherworld-dwellers)

अथthen, thereafter

अन्तरिक्षेin the sky/atmosphere

सुमहान्very great, huge

नानावर्णाःof many colors

पयोधराःclouds (lit. water-bearers)

Speaker

भीमसेन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīmasena

Nāgaloka

Nāgas

Pātāla

Antarikṣa (sky/atmosphere)

Kālāgni (fire of Time)

Payodharas (clouds)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores the overwhelming power of Kāla (Time): even hidden, mighty realms like Nāgaloka in Pātāla are not beyond destruction. It evokes impermanence and the ethical humility that arises from recognizing that all conditioned existence is subject to dissolution.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīma is describing a catastrophic, end-of-cycle scene: a consuming fire spreads so thoroughly that it burns even the subterranean serpent-realms; after everything is reduced to ashes, immense multicolored storm-clouds gather in the sky, intensifying the ominous atmosphere.