Shloka 4
Ādi Parva, Adhyāya 147 — Kanyā-paridevita
The daughter’s lament on lineage and protection
! कृष्णपक्षे चतुर्दश्यां रात्रावस्यां पुरोचन: । भवनस्य तव द्वारि प्रदास्यति हुताशनम्,“इसी कृष्णपक्षकी चतुर्दशीकी रातको पुरोचन आपके घरके दरवाजेपर आग लगा देगा
kṛṣṇapakṣe caturdaśyāṃ rātrāv asyāṃ purocanaḥ | bhavanasya tava dvāri pradāsyati hutāśanam ||
Vaiśampāyana nói: “Ngay trong đêm nay—đêm ngày mười bốn của nửa tháng tối (kṛṣṇa-pakṣa)—Purocana sẽ châm lửa ngay trước cửa nơi ở của các ngươi.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores how adharma operates through secrecy and calculated harm: setting fire to a home is not merely violence but a betrayal of social and royal duty. It implicitly warns that power pursued through deceit and cruelty corrodes righteousness and endangers the innocent.
A specific time is announced—caturdaśī night in the dark fortnight—when Purocana is to ignite a fire at the entrance of the listener’s house. It functions as a forewarning of an assassination attempt by arson, setting the stage for escape and countermeasures in the surrounding episode.