Shloka 20
सौप्तिकपर्व — धृष्टद्युम्नसारथिवृत्तान्तः
Report of the Night Raid and Yudhiṣṭhira’s Lament
ध्वजोत्तमाग्रोच्छितधूमकेतु शरार्चिषं कोपमहासमीरम् । महाथनुर्ज्यातलनेमिघोषं तनुत्रनानाविधशस्त्रहोमम्
dhvajottamāgrochchita-dhūmaketuḥ śarārciṣaṁ kopamahā-samīram | mahādhanuḥ-jyā-tala-nemi-ghoṣaṁ tanūtrā-nānāvidha-śastra-homam ||
Wika ni Sūta: Sa dakilang labanan, nang ang apoy na wari’y si Bhīṣma ang siyang tumutupok sa hukbo ng Pāṇḍava, ang matatayog na watawat ay tila usok nito; ang ulang-palaso ang mga dila ng liyab; at ang poot ang mabagsik na hangin na nagpapaliyab. Ang dagundong ng malaking bagting ng busog, ang hampas ng palad, at ang ugong ng mga gulong ng karwahe ay parang lagitik ng naglalagablab na sunog; at ang baluti at sari-saring sandata ang naging mga handog sa sakripisyong apoy ng digmaan.
सूत उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses an extended fire-and-sacrifice metaphor to critique the moral dynamics of war: anger functions like a gale that magnifies destruction, and even those who withstand battle’s hardships can be undone by pramāda (carelessness). It implicitly urges vigilance and restraint, warning that wrath-driven conflict consumes indiscriminately.
Sūta describes the great battle as a raging conflagration: banners resemble smoke, arrows become flames, the sounds of bowstring and chariots become the crackle of fire, and armor and weapons are cast as offerings. The imagery evokes the Pāṇḍava forces being burned by a Bhīṣma-like blaze on the battlefield.