Shloka 23
दुःशासननिग्रहः—द्रोणधृष्टद्युम्नयुद्धप्रसङ्गः
Rebuke of Duḥśāsana; Context of the Droṇa–Dhṛṣṭadyumna Combat
रक्षितस्तव पुत्रैश्न क्रोधमूलो हुताशन: । य इमां पृथिवीं राजन् दग्धुं सर्वा समुद्यत:,महाराज! आपके पुत्रोंने उस क्रोधमूलक वैरकी आगको सुरक्षित रखा है, जो इस सारी पृथ्वीको भस्म कर डालनेके लिये उद्यत है
sañjaya uvāca | rakṣitas tava putraiś ca krodha-mūlo hutāśanaḥ | ya imāṃ pṛthivīṃ rājan dagdhuṃ sarvāṃ samudyataḥ ||
रक्षितस्तव पुत्रैश्च क्रोधमूलो हुताशनः। य इमां पृथिवीं राजन् दग्धुं सर्वां समुद्यतः॥
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse warns that anger, when deliberately protected and sustained, becomes like a wildfire: it expands beyond control and consumes the whole social and moral landscape. A ruler’s family nurturing wrath and vengeance endangers the entire kingdom, not merely the opposing side.
Sañjaya addresses the blind king Dhṛtarāṣṭra, criticizing the Kaurava princes for maintaining a wrath-born hostility. He frames their enmity as a fire ready to burn the whole earth—an ominous comment on how their choices are driving the war toward catastrophic, widespread ruin.