Shloka 41
स्त्रीपर्व १: धृतराष्ट्रशोकः संजयाश्वासनं च
Strī Parva 1: Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Lament and Saṃjaya’s Consolation
तस्मिन् समिद्धे पतिता: शलभा इव ते सुता: । तान् वै शराग्निनिर्दग्धान्न त्वं शोचितुमहसि,“उसी प्रज्वलित अग्निमें आपके सारे पुत्र पतंगोंके समान पड़ गये हैं। बाणोंकी आगमें जलकर भस्म हुए उन पुत्रोंके लिये आपको शोक नहीं करना चाहिये
tasmin samiddhe patitāḥ śalabhā iva te sutāḥ | tān vai śarāgni-nirdagdhān na tvaṃ śocitum arhasi ||
Vaiśaṃpāyana said: “When that fire was blazing, your sons fell into it like moths. Since they were burned to ashes by the fire of arrows, you ought not to grieve for them.”
वैशमग्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse urges restraint in grief by framing the sons’ death as the inevitable outcome of war—like moths drawn into a blazing fire—implying that lamentation cannot alter what has already been consumed by the ‘fire of arrows’ and that one should face the aftermath with steadiness.
Vaiśaṃpāyana describes to the listener that the addressee’s sons perished in the raging ‘fire’ of battle, destroyed by arrow-fire, and he counsels that the addressee should not continue mourning them.