Shloka 44

Rajo-dhūli-saṃmūḍha-saṅgrāmaḥ

The Dust-Obscured Battle and Mutual Charges

Devanagari script

अग्निनेव प्रदग्धानि वनानि शिशिरात्यये

Transliteration

agnineva pradagdhāni vanāni śiśirātyaye

Translation

സഞ്ജയൻ പറഞ്ഞു—ശിശിരത്തിന്റെ അവസാനം അഗ്നിയിൽ വനങ്ങൾ ദഹിച്ച് ചാരമാകുന്നതുപോലെ, അവർ ദഹിച്ച് തകർന്നുവീണു.

Word by Word

• अग्निना: by fire
• अग्निना: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: अग्नि
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Singular

• इव: as/like
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इव

• प्रदग्धानि: burnt up, scorched
• Type: Adjective
• Root: प्र + दह्
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Plural

• वनानि: forests
• वनानि: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: वन
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Plural

• शिशिर: in winter/cold season
• शिशिर: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: शिशिर
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• अत्यये: at the passing/end
• अत्यये: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: अत्यय
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• agni (fire)
• vana (forests)
• śiśira (winter season)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse uses a stark simile to underline how violence, once ignited, spreads indiscriminately and leaves lasting ruin—an ethical reminder that war’s ‘victory’ often resembles a burnt forest: life-supporting order is destroyed along with the target.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya, reporting events of the Kurukṣetra war, describes the scene of devastation by comparing the affected forces/region to forests consumed by fire at winter’s end, emphasizing the scale and inevitability of the destruction.