Shloka 34

Devanagari script

तथेति तत्‌ प्रतिश्रुत्य भगवान्‌ हव्यवाहन: । खाण्डवे तेन कालेन प्रजज्वाल दिधक्षया,“बहुत अच्छा” कहकर भगवान्‌ हव्यवाहनने वैसा करनेकी प्रतिज्ञा की और उस समय खाण्डववनको जलानेके लिये वे प्रज्वलित हो उठे

Transliteration

tatheti tat pratiśrutya bhagavān havyavāhanaḥ | khāṇḍave tena kālena prajajvāla didhakṣayā ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana said: Saying, “So be it,” the divine Fire (Agni), having given his assent and promise, at that very time blazed forth in the Khāṇḍava forest with the intent to burn it—signaling the irreversible commencement of the conflagration that will drive the episode’s moral and cosmic consequences.

Word by Word

तथाthus, so

इतिthus (quotative marker)

तत्that (promise/statement)

प्रतिश्रुत्यhaving promised, having assented

भगवान्the blessed lord

हव्यवाहनःHavyavāhana (Agni), carrier of oblations

खाण्डवेin/at Khāṇḍava (forest)

तेनby that, at that

कालेनtime, moment

प्रजज्वालblazed forth, flared up

दिधक्षयाwith the desire to burn

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Agni (Havyavāhana)

Khāṇḍava forest (Khāṇḍava)

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the ethical weight of a pledged assent: once a divine or authoritative agent gives a promise (“tathā”), action follows decisively. It also frames destruction as purposeful within a larger cosmic narrative—Agni’s burning is not random but intentional, tied to prior causes and commitments.

What is happening in the narrative?

Agni, addressed as Havyavāhana, agrees to what has been requested earlier and immediately flares up in the Khāṇḍava forest with the intention of burning it, marking the start of the Khāṇḍava conflagration episode.