Shloka 70
माननीय नरेश! जैसे अग्निदेव सूखे काठकी बहुत बड़ी राशि पाकर प्रचण्डरूपसे प्रज्वलित हो उठते हैं, उसी प्रकार रणभूमिमें अश्वत्थामा अत्यन्त क्रोधसे जलने लगा ।। तल॑ तलेन निष्षिष्य दन्तैर्दन्तानुपास्पृशत् । निःश्वसन्नुरगो यद्धल्लोहिताक्षो5भवत् तदा,उसने हाथसे हाथ मलकर दाँतोंसे दाँत पीसे और फुफकारते हुए सर्पके समान वह लंबी साँसें खींचने लगा, उस समय उसकी आँखें लाल हो गयी थीं
sanjaya uvāca | mānanīya nareśa! yathā agnidevaḥ śuṣka-kāṣṭhasya bahu-vṛddhāṁ rāśiṁ prāpya pracaṇḍa-rūpeṇa prajvalito bhavati, tathā raṇa-bhūmau aśvatthāmā atyanta-krodhena jajvāla || talaṁ talena niṣpiṣya dantair dantān upāspṛśat | niḥśvasann urago yathā dīrgha-niḥśvāsān akarot, tadā lohitākṣo 'bhavat ||
Sanjaya said: “O revered king, just as Fire, finding a vast heap of dry wood, flares up into a fierce blaze, so on the battlefield Ashvatthama began to burn with overwhelming wrath. Rubbing palm against palm, grinding his teeth, and hissing like a serpent as he drew long breaths, his eyes turned red.” The passage underscores how anger, once fed by circumstances, can rapidly intensify and overtake discernment in war.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse illustrates how anger, when supplied with fuel (provocation and the momentum of war), can blaze uncontrollably and distort judgment—an ethical warning about the inner causes that lead to cruel action and adharma.
Sanjaya describes Ashvatthama on the battlefield becoming intensely enraged. His physical signs—rubbing his hands, grinding his teeth, hissing and breathing like a serpent, eyes turning red—signal a surge of violent resolve.