Shloka 1
खाण्डवदाहोत्तर-वरप्रदानम्
Boons after the Khāṇḍava Burning
अकाल पज्चविशर्त्याधिकद्विशततमो< ध्याय: खाण्डववनमें जलते हुए प्राणियोंकी दुर्दशा और इन्द्रके द्वारा जल बरसाकर आग बुझानेकी चेष्टा वैशम्पायन उवाच तौ रथाभ्यां रथश्रेष्ठी दावस्योभयत: स्थितौ । दिक्षु सर्वासु भूतानां चक्राते कदनं महत्,वैशम्पायनजी कहते हैं--जनमेजय! वे दोनों रथियोंमें श्रेष्ठ वीर दो रथोंपर बैठकर खाण्डववनके दोनों ओर खड़े हो गये और सब दिशाओंमें घूम-घूमकर प्राणियोंका महान् संहार करने लगे
vaiśampāyana uvāca | tau rathābhyāṃ rathaśreṣṭhī dāvasya ubhayataḥ sthitau | dikṣu sarvāsu bhūtānāṃ cakrāte kadanaṃ mahat |
Vaiśampāyana said: O Janamejaya, those two foremost warriors, mounted on their chariots, took positions on both sides of the blazing Khāṇḍava forest. Moving through all directions, they wrought a great slaughter of the living beings there—an episode that starkly frames the moral tension between martial prowess and the suffering of creatures caught in a conflagration.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds the ethical ambiguity of heroic action: extraordinary martial capability can become morally troubling when it amplifies suffering among vulnerable beings. It invites reflection on responsibility and the cost of achieving a larger aim through destructive means.
Two supreme chariot-warriors take up positions on both sides of the burning Khāṇḍava forest and range through all directions, preventing escape and causing massive destruction among the creatures within as the conflagration spreads.