Shloka 21
सौप्तिकपर्व — धृष्टद्युम्नसारथिवृत्तान्तः
Report of the Night Raid and Yudhiṣṭhira’s Lament
महाचमूकक्षदवाभिपन्नं महाहवे भीष्ममयाग्निदाहम् । ये सेहुरात्तायुधती&णवेगं ते राजपुत्रा निहता: प्रमादात्
mahācamūkṣadavābhipannaṁ mahāhave bhīṣmamayāgnidāham | ye sehurāttāyudhatīvravegaṁ te rājaputrā nihatāḥ pramādāt ||
Wika ni Sūta: Sa dakilang labanan, nang ang napakalaking hukbo ay masakmal ng isang paglalagablab na parang sunog sa gubat—si Bhīṣma mismo ang apoy na iyon—yaong mga anak ng hari na nakatiis sa mabangis na bugso ng mga sandata sa kanyang nag-aapoy na paglusob, ay napatay rin sa huli dahil sa kawalang-pagbabantay.
सूत उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights that courage and endurance in crisis are not sufficient by themselves; pramāda (heedlessness) can nullify hard-won survival. Ethically, it stresses vigilance, disciplined attention, and the danger of complacency even after facing great trials.
The narrator (Sūta) describes Bhīṣma’s battlefield onslaught as a wildfire consuming an army. Those princes who withstood the intense, weapon-driven force of that ‘Bhīṣma-fire’ were nevertheless later killed because they became negligent—suggesting a subsequent lapse in alertness after surviving the main danger.