Shloka 42
उत्पातदर्शनम् — Portents and Kāla among the Vṛṣṇis
मत्ता: परिपतन्ति सम योधयन्त: परस्परम् | पतड्जा इव चाग्नौ ते निपेतु: कुकुरान्धका:,भरतनन्दन! उस मूसलसे पिताने पुत्रको और पुत्रने पिताको मार डाला। जैसे पतिंगे अतामें कूद पड़ते हैं, उसी प्रकार कुकुर और अन्धकवंशके लोग परस्पर जूझते हुए एक दूसरेपर मतवाले होकर टूटते थे
mattāḥ paripatanti sma yodhayantaḥ parasparam | pataṅgā iva cāgnau te nipetuḥ kukurāndhakāḥ ||
वैशम्पायन उवाच—मत्ताः परिपतन्ति स्म योधयन्तः परस्परम्; पतङ्गा इव चाग्नौ ते निपेतुः कुकुरान्धकाः। तेनैव मुसलेन पितरः पुत्रान्, पुत्राश्च पितॄन् जघ्नुः।
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
When reason and restraint collapse—especially under intoxication and rage—people rush toward ruin as if compelled, harming even their closest kin. The verse underscores the ethical necessity of self-control (dama) and vigilance against passions that turn a community’s strength into self-destruction.
In the Mausala Parva’s account of the Yādavas’ end, the Kukura and Andhaka clans, maddened and fighting mutually, fall upon one another. The simile of moths plunging into fire conveys their blind, irresistible drive toward death, culminating in fathers and sons killing each other with the club (mūsala).