Shloka 27

Devanagari script

राजान: पार्थिवा: सर्वे प्रोक्षिता: कालधर्मणा । गाण्डीवानिनें प्रवेक्ष्यन्ति पतज्रा इव पावकम्‌,भूमण्डलके समस्त राजाओंका वध करनेके लिये मानो कालधर्मा यमराजने उनका प्रोक्षण (संस्कार) किया है; अत: जैसे पतंग आगमें गिरते हैं, वैसे ही ये सब नरेश गाण्डीव धनुषकी आगमें समा जायँगे

Transliteration

rājānaḥ pārthivāḥ sarve prokṣitāḥ kāladharmaṇā | gāṇḍīvāgninā pravekṣyanti pataṅgā iva pāvakam ||

Translation

Wika ni Dhṛtarāṣṭra: “Ang lahat ng haring ito at mga pinunong makalupa ay waring binasbasan na ng di-maiiwasang batas ng Panahon para sa kamatayan. Kaya papasok sila sa apoy ng busog na Gāṇḍīva—gaya ng mga gamu-gamo na sumusuong sa naglalagablab na apoy.”

Word by Word

राजानःkings

पार्थिवाःearthly rulers, monarchs

सर्वेall

प्रोक्षिताःsprinkled, consecrated

कालधर्मणाby Time-as-law (i.e., by Death’s ordinance)

गाण्डीवानलम्the Gāṇḍīva-fire (the blazing Gāṇḍīva bow)

प्रवेक्ष्यन्तिwill enter

पतङ्गाःmoths

इवlike, as

पावकम्fire

Speaker

धृतराष्ट उवाच

Characters & Entities

Dhṛtarāṣṭra

kings (rājānaḥ, pārthivāḥ)

Kāla-dharma (law of Time / Death principle)

Yama (implied by kāladharma as death-ordainer)

Gāṇḍīva (Arjuna’s bow)

fire (agni/pāvaka)

moths (pataṅga)

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames war’s destruction through the lens of kāla-dharma—Time’s inevitable order—suggesting that when adharma ripens, even mighty rulers become like offerings prepared for death. It warns of the moral and existential inevitability of consequences, while highlighting the terrifying momentum of conflict once set in motion.

What is happening in the narrative?

Dhṛtarāṣṭra, anxious about the coming war, envisions the assembled kings being drawn toward annihilation. He uses a sacrificial image (‘prokṣita’, consecrated) and a vivid simile: the rulers will plunge into the ‘fire’ of Arjuna’s Gāṇḍīva like moths into flame—foretelling mass slaughter in the impending Kurukṣetra conflict.