Mahabharata — Virata Parva, Shloka 22
Virāṭa-parva Adhyāya 22 — Draupadī’s Abduction Attempt and Bhīma’s Suppression of the Kīcakas
आसीदभ्यधिका चापि श्री: श्रियं प्रमुमुक्षत: । निर्वाणकाले दीपस्य वर्तीमिव दिधक्षत:
vaiśampāyana uvāca |
āsīd abhyadhikā cāpi śrīḥ śriyaṃ pramumukṣataḥ |
nirvāṇakāle dīpasya vartīm iva didhakṣataḥ ||
ヴァイシャンパーヤナは語った。その時、キーチャカの輝きは並外れて増した。だが彼は、まもなく王の幸運から永遠に断たれる者であった。それは、消えゆく瞬間に灯火がひときわ明るく燃え上がり、まるで芯をもう一度焼き尽くそうとするかのようである。
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches the impermanence of worldly splendor and the moral irony that arrogance and unrighteous desire may appear to flourish just before collapse—like a lamp flaring up at the moment it is about to go out.
In the Kīcaka episode of the Virāṭa Parva, Kīcaka’s outward magnificence and self-assured display intensify even as his downfall is imminent; the narrator marks this as a sign of approaching destruction.