Shloka 28
Vāsudeva-Māhātmya: Duryodhana’s Inquiry and Bhīṣma’s Theological Account of Keśava
Devanagari script
शलभा इव राजान: पतन्ति विधिचोदिता:
Transliteration
śalabhā iva rājānaḥ patanti vidhicoditāḥ
Translation
サンジャヤは言った――運命の力に駆り立てられ、王たちは倒れてゆく。炎へと飛び込む蛾のように、戦の貪り尽くす火焔のただ中で、抗いがたく破滅へ引き寄せられるのだ。
Word by Word
शलभाःmoths
शलभाः:
Karta
TypeNoun
Rootशलभ
FormMasculine, Nominative, Plural
इवlike/as
इव:
TypeIndeclinable
Rootइव
राजानःkings
राजानः:
Karta
TypeNoun
Rootराजन्
FormMasculine, Nominative, Plural
पतन्तिfall / rush down
पतन्ति:
TypeVerb
Rootपत्
FormPresent (Lat), Third, Plural, Parasmaipada
विधिचोदिताःimpelled by fate/ordinance
विधिचोदिताः:
TypeAdjective
Rootविधिचोदित
FormMasculine, Nominative, Plural
Speaker
संजय उवाच
Characters & Entities
S
SañjayaK
kings (rājānaḥ)M
moths (śalabhāḥ)Character Dynamics
Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)
War Context
Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)
Philosophical Teaching
Political Layer
Geographic Context
Meter (Chandas)
Sandhi Notes
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how even powerful rulers can be swept along by destiny and destructive impulses, rushing toward ruin as blindly as moths toward fire—an ethical warning about unchecked ambition and the tragic momentum of war.
Sañjaya, narrating the battlefield events to Dhṛtarāṣṭra, comments on the kings engaged in the Kurukṣetra war: compelled by fate and circumstance, they are falling in battle in great numbers, likened to moths perishing in flame.