Shloka 36
Vyāsa’s Consolation to Yudhiṣṭhira: Tapas, Kāla, and the Difficulty of Dāna (दान-तपस्-विवेकः)
पाण्डवा: प्रत्यदृश्यन्त ज्वलिता इव पावका: । फिर नाना प्रकारके दिव्य आयुध हाथमें लिये, कवच धारण करके रथोंपर आरूढ़ हो ध्वज और धनुषसे सुशोभित वे समस्त पाण्डव प्रज्वलित अग्नियोंके समान दिखायी देने लगे
vaiśampāyana uvāca | pāṇḍavāḥ pratyadṛśyanta jvalitā iva pāvakāḥ |
Sinabi ni Vaiśampāyana: Nagpakita ang mga Pāṇḍava na tila naglalagablab na apoy. May tangan silang iba’t ibang banal na sandata, nakasuot ng baluti, nakasakay sa mga karwahe, at pinalalamutian ng mga watawat at mga busog, sila’y nagningning at nakapanghihilakbot—larawan ng disiplinadong kapangyarihang inihahanda para sa matuwid na layon.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames martial strength as meaningful when disciplined and aligned with dharma: the Pāṇḍavas’ splendour is not mere display, but the outward sign of readiness to act according to kṣatriya responsibility, with power portrayed as purifying and decisive like fire.
The narrator describes the Pāṇḍavas becoming visible in a heightened, heroic tableau—armoured, chariot-borne, bearing banners and bows and (by context) divine weapons—so radiant that they resemble blazing fires, signalling an imminent confrontation or decisive action.