Shloka 24

Vyāsa’s Boon-Offer and Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Remorse in the Forest Assembly (आश्रमवासिक पर्व, अध्याय ३६)

Devanagari script

तमुवाच किलोद्विग्न: संजयो वदतां वर:

Transliteration

tam uvāca kilodvignaḥ sañjayo vadatāṃ varaḥ |

Translation

ତେବେ ବକ୍ତାମାନଙ୍କ ମଧ୍ୟରେ ଶ୍ରେଷ୍ଠ ସଞ୍ଜୟ ଅତ୍ୟନ୍ତ ଉଦ୍ବିଗ୍ନ ହୋଇ ରାଜାଙ୍କୁ କହିଲେ— “ରାଜନ! ଏହି ସାଧାରଣ ଲୌକିକ ଅଗ୍ନିରେ ଆପଣଙ୍କ ମୃତ୍ୟୁ ହେବା ଯୋଗ୍ୟ ନୁହେଁ; ଆପଣଙ୍କ ଦାହସଂସ୍କାର ଆହବନୀୟ ଅଗ୍ନିରେ ହେବା ଉଚିତ। କିନ୍ତୁ ଏହି କ୍ଷଣରେ ଏହି ଦାବାନଳରୁ ମୁକ୍ତିର କୌଣସି ଉପାୟ ମୋତେ ଦେଖାଯାଉନାହିଁ।”

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'udvignaḥ', 'definition': 'agitated, distressed, alarmed'}, {'term': 'Sañjayaḥ', 'definition': 'Sañjaya, the charioteer-counsellor and narrator, famed for truthful speech'}, {'term': 'vadatāṃ varaḥ', 'definition': 'best among speakers

• an epithet praising eloquence and discernment'}, {'term': 'rājan', 'definition': 'O king

• vocative address to the ruler (here, Dhṛtarāṣṭra in context)'}, {'term': 'laukika-agni', 'definition': 'worldly/common fire (as opposed to ritual sacred fire)'}, {'term': 'āhavanīya-agni', 'definition': 'the sacred ‘offering’ fire used in Vedic rites

• ritually consecrated fire'}, {'term': 'dāvānala', 'definition': 'forest fire, wildfire, conflagration'}, {'term': 'mṛtyu', 'definition': 'death

• here, the manner of death and its ritual propriety'}, {'term': 'upāya', 'definition': 'means, remedy, method (of escape)'}]

Speaker

नारद उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Nārada
• Sañjaya
• Rājan (Dhṛtarāṣṭra, implied by context)
• laukika agni (worldly fire)
• āhavanīya agni (sacrificial fire)
• dāvānala (forest fire)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights dharma as ritual and ethical propriety even at the end of life: a king’s death and funeral rites are ideally aligned with consecrated sacred fire (āhavanīya), not an accidental ‘worldly’ blaze. It also underscores human limitation—Sañjaya’s moral clarity does not guarantee practical power to avert fate.

What is happening in the narrative?

During the forest-dwelling phase, a wildfire (dāvānala) threatens the aged king and his companions. Sañjaya, shaken, addresses the king, lamenting that dying in a common fire is unfitting and that he sees no way to escape the conflagration.