Shloka 286
Vāsudeva-Māhātmya: Duryodhana’s Inquiry and Bhīṣma’s Theological Account of Keśava
भीष्माग्निमभिसंक्रुद्धं विगाशाय सहस्रश: । वहाँ विधातासे प्रेरित होकर पतंगोंके समान सहस्रों राजा क्रोधमें भरे हुए भीष्मरूपी प्रचण्ड अग्निमें अपने विनाशके लिये स्वयं ही आ गिरते थे
bhīṣmāgnim abhisankruddhaṃ vigāśāya sahasraśaḥ | tatra vidhātṛṇā preritāḥ pataṅgān iva sahasraśo rājānaḥ krodhabhareṇa bhīṣmarūpaṃ pracaṇḍāgnim ātmavināśāya svayam eva nipetire |
Sañjaya said: There, driven onward by the Disposer’s decree, thousands of kings—like moths rushing toward a flame—fell of their own accord into Bhīṣma, who blazed like a fierce fire. Inflamed with anger, they plunged into that terrible conflagration only to meet their own destruction—an image of how wrath and fate together can propel warriors into ruin.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores how anger (krodha) clouds discernment and drives people toward self-destruction, while also portraying the inexorable pull of fate (vidhātṛ). Ethically, it warns that valor without restraint and right judgment can become a path to ruin.
Sañjaya describes the battlefield scene where numerous kings, enraged and compelled by destiny, repeatedly rush against Bhīṣma. Bhīṣma is depicted as a blazing, fierce fire, and the kings are compared to moths that fly into flame—falling into his onslaught and perishing.