Shloka 38

द्रोणकर्णयोः निशि संप्रहारः — Night Engagement with Droṇa and Karṇa

Devanagari script

कक्षमग्निरिवोद्धूत: प्रदहंस्तव वाहिनीम्‌

Transliteration

kakṣam agnir ivoddhūtaḥ pradahan tava vāhinīm

Translation

ਸੰਜਯ ਨੇ ਆਖਿਆ—ਜਿਵੇਂ ਜੰਗਲ ਦੀ ਅੱਗ ਅਚਾਨਕ ਹਵਾ ਨਾਲ ਭੜਕ ਉੱਠਦੀ ਹੈ, ਤਿਵੇਂ ਉਹ ਤੇਰੀ ਫੌਜ ਨੂੰ ਹਰ ਪਾਸੇ ਤੋਂ ਸਾੜਦਾ ਹੋਇਆ ਨਿਗਲ ਰਿਹਾ ਸੀ।

Word by Word

• कक्षम्: armpit/side (as fuel/seat of fire)
• कक्षम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: कक्ष
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• अग्निः: fire
• अग्निः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: अग्नि
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

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

• उद्धूतः: raised up, fanned, stirred
• उद्धूतः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: उद्-धू
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• प्रदहन्: burning, scorching
• प्रदहन्: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्र- दह्
• Form: Present (participle), Singular

• तव: your
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: युष्मद्
• Form: Genitive, Singular

• वाहिनीम्: army, host
• वाहिनीम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: वाहिनी
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Dhṛtarāṣṭra (implied by 'tava')
• Kaurava army (vāhinī)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the unstoppable momentum of violence once it is ‘fanned’—like a forest fire—suggesting an ethical warning: war, once unleashed, rapidly consumes even those who believe they can control it.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that a warrior (contextually understood from surrounding verses) is devastating the Kaurava forces, compared to a sudden forest fire sweeping through dry thickets and burning the army.