Shloka 27
Sainyasaṅgraha and Bhāga-Vyavasthā (Forces Assembled and Rival Allocations) | सैन्यसंग्रह-भागव्यवस्था
राजान: पार्थिवा: सर्वे प्रोक्षिता: कालधर्मणा । गाण्डीवानिनें प्रवेक्ष्यन्ति पतज्रा इव पावकम्
rājānaḥ pārthivāḥ sarve prokṣitāḥ kāladharmaṇā | gāṇḍīvāgninā pravekṣyanti pataṅgā iva pāvakam ||
دھرتراشٹر نے کہا— “یہ سب بادشاہ اور زمینی حکمران گویا زمانے کے اٹل قانون کے تحت موت کے لیے مقدّس کیے جا چکے ہیں۔ اس لیے جیسے پروانے دہکتی آگ میں جا گرتے ہیں، ویسے ہی یہ سب گاندیو کمان کی آگ میں داخل ہوں گے۔”
धृतराष्ट उवाच
Educational Q&A
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.
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.