Shloka 7

Devanagari script

ततो व्यपोहमानास्ते पाण्डवार्थे हुताशनम्‌ । निषादी ददृशुर्दग्धां पठ्चपुत्रामनागसम्‌,तदनन्तर उन्होंने पाण्डवोंको ढूँढ़नेके लिये जब आगको इधर-उधर हटाया, तब पाँच पुत्रोंके साथ निरपराध भीलनीकी जली लाश देखी

Transliteration

tato vyapohamānās te pāṇḍavārthe hutāśanam | niṣādī dadṛśur dagdhāṃ pañcaputrām anāgasam ||

Translation

Then, as they pushed aside the fire while searching for the Pāṇḍavas, they saw the charred body of an innocent Niṣādī woman, burned together with her five sons. The discovery underscores a tragic moral misrecognition: the signs meant to confirm the Pāṇḍavas’ death instead reveal the death of the blameless, exposing how deceit and violence can spill over onto the uninvolved.

Word by Word

ततःthen/from there

व्यपोहमानाःremoving/clearing away

तेthey

पाण्डव-अर्थेfor the sake of the Pāṇḍavas / in search of the Pāṇḍavas

हुताशनम्the fire

निषाद्यःthe Niṣāda women (tribal women)

ददृशुःthey saw

दग्धाम्burnt

पञ्च-पुत्राम्having five sons

अनागसम्innocent, blameless

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Pāṇḍavāḥ (the Pāṇḍavas)

hutāśana (fire)

niṣādī (Niṣāda woman)

pañca putrāḥ (five sons)

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 highlights the ethical cost of schemes involving violence and deception: even when aimed at specific targets, harm can fall upon the innocent. It invites reflection on dharma by showing how adharma-driven plots generate collateral suffering and moral confusion.

What is happening in the narrative?

After the conflagration, people searching for the Pāṇḍavas clear away the fire and debris. Instead of finding the Pāṇḍavas, they find the burned corpse of a Niṣāda woman along with her five sons, which is taken as evidence in the aftermath of the fire.