Shloka 16
देवा ऊचु कि न्विमे मानवा: सर्वे दहाुन्ते चित्रभानुना | कच्चिन्न संक्षय: प्राप्तो लोकानाममरेश्वर,देवता बोले--अमरेश्वर! अग्निदेव इन सब मनुष्योंको क्यों जला रहे हैं? कहीं संसारका प्रलय तो नहीं आ गया
devā ūcuḥ: kiṃ nv ime mānavāḥ sarve dahyante citrabhānunā | kaccin na saṃkṣayaḥ prāpto lokānām amara-īśvara ||
The gods said: “Why indeed are all these human beings being burned by Citrabhānu (Agni)? O lord of the immortals, has the destruction of the worlds come to pass—has a cosmic dissolution begun?”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights anxiety about the collapse of cosmic order: when suffering appears indiscriminate and overwhelming, even the gods question whether it signals a larger breakdown (saṃkṣaya/pralaya). It frames ethical concern as inquiry into whether events align with dharma and cosmic governance.
The gods observe humans being burned by Agni (Citrabhānu) and, alarmed by the scale of destruction, ask the lord of the immortals (commonly Indra) whether this is merely an event of fire or the onset of world-destruction.