Shloka 25

Devanagari script

स एकदा कक्षगतो महात्मा तुष्टो विभु: खाण्डवे धूमकेतु: । स राक्षसानुरगांश्वावजित्य सर्वत्रग: सर्वमग्नौ जुहोति

Transliteration

sa ekadā kakṣagato mahātmā tuṣṭo vibhuḥ khāṇḍave dhūmaketuḥ | sa rākṣasānuragāṁś cāvajitya sarvatragaḥ sarvam agnau juhoti ||

Translation

Bhishma berkata: “Pernah sekali, Tuhan yang berjiwa agung dan maha berkuasa—Dhūmaketu, yakni Api—memasuki rimbunan hutan Khāṇḍava dan, meresapi kayu-kayu keringnya, menjadi puas sepenuhnya. Penguasa yang meliputi segala itu, setelah menundukkan para Rakshasa dan kaum ular yang terpaut pada tempat itu, mempersembahkan segala-galanya ke dalam api itu sendiri—menghanguskan semuanya laksana oblation.”

Word by Word

• {'saḥ': 'he

• that one', 'ekadā': 'once

• at one time', 'kakṣa-gataḥ': 'having entered the brushwood/thickets', 'mahātmā': 'great-souled

• exalted being', 'tuṣṭaḥ': 'satisfied

• content', 'vibhuḥ': 'mighty

• sovereign', 'khāṇḍave': 'in the Khāṇḍava (forest)', 'dhūmaketuḥ': '‘smoke-bannered’

• a name/epithet of Agni (Fire)', 'rākṣasān': 'Rakshasas (demonic beings)', 'anuragān': 'attached

• clinging (to a place/interest)', 'ca': 'and', 'avajitya': 'having conquered

• having subdued', 'sarvatragaḥ': 'all-pervading

• present everywhere', 'sarvam': 'everything

• all', 'agnau': 'into the fire', 'juhoti': 'offers (as in sacrifice)

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• Dhūmaketu (Agni)
• Khāṇḍava forest
• Rākṣasas
• Nāgas (serpent beings)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames overwhelming destructive power (fire consuming a forest and its hostile beings) as a form of yajña: the Lord, all-pervading and sovereign, ‘offers everything into fire.’ Ethically, it suggests that even fearsome events can be understood within a larger dharmic-cosmic order, where elements return to their source and resistance to that order is ultimately subdued.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhishma describes Dhūmaketu (Agni) entering the thickets of the Khāṇḍava forest, spreading through its dry fuel and becoming satisfied by consuming it. In the process, he overcomes Rakshasas and Nāgas associated with the place and consigns all into the fire as if performing a sacrificial offering.