Shloka 31
तेन प्रदीप्तेन तथा प्रदीप्तं बल॑ तवासीदू बलवद् बलेन
tena pradīptena tathā pradīptaṃ balaṃ tavāsīd balavad balena
Sañjaya said: By that blazing force, your army too was set ablaze—overpowered and inflamed by a might that was itself intensely powerful. The verse underscores how, in war, one side’s fierce momentum can ignite panic and collapse in the other, regardless of prior strength.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how sheer intensity of force can spread like fire: when power is wielded with overwhelming momentum, it can ignite disorder and defeat in an opposing force. Ethically, it points to the destructive contagion of violence—strength in war often escalates suffering rather than restoring dharma.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that a blazing, overpowering force on the battlefield caused the Kaurava host (‘your army’) to become ‘inflamed’—i.e., thrown into turmoil, routed, or consumed by the opponent’s fierce onslaught.