Shloka 18
Devanagari script
महागिरौ वेणुवनं निशि प्रज्वलितं यथा
Transliteration
mahāgirau veṇuvanaṁ niśi prajvalitaṁ yathā
Translation
பெருமலையில் உள்ள மூங்கில் காடு இரவில் தீப்பற்றி எரிவதுபோல்.
Word by Word
महागिरौon the great mountain
महागिरौ:
Adhikarana
TypeNoun
Rootमहागिरि
FormMasculine, Locative, Singular
वेणुवनम्a bamboo-grove
वेणुवनम्:
Karta
TypeNoun
Rootवेणुवन
FormNeuter, Nominative, Singular
निशिat night
निशि:
Adhikarana
TypeNoun
Rootनिशा
FormFeminine, Locative, Singular
प्रज्वलितम्blazing, kindled
प्रज्वलितम्:
Karta
TypeAdjective
Rootप्र+ज्वल्
FormNeuter, Nominative, Singular
यथाas, like
यथा:
Adhikarana
TypeIndeclinable
Rootयथा
Speaker
संजय उवाच
Characters & Entities
S
SañjayaM
mahāgiri (great mountain)V
veṇuvana (bamboo-grove)Character Dynamics
Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)
War Context
Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)
Philosophical Teaching
Political Layer
Geographic Context
Meter (Chandas)
Sandhi Notes
Educational Q&A
The verse uses a stark simile to highlight how violence can appear dazzling and irresistible even amid moral darkness; it implicitly warns that the ‘brightness’ of power and fury in war is inseparable from devastation.
Sañjaya is describing the battlefield scene to Dhṛtarāṣṭra, comparing what he sees to a bamboo-grove on a great mountain burning in the night—emphasizing the intense, spreading blaze-like spectacle of the combat.