Shloka 20
सौप्तिकपर्व — धृष्टद्युम्नसारथिवृत्तान्तः
Report of the Night Raid and Yudhiṣṭhira’s Lament
ध्वजोत्तमाग्रोच्छितधूमकेतु शरार्चिषं कोपमहासमीरम् । महाथनुर्ज्यातलनेमिघोषं तनुत्रनानाविधशस्त्रहोमम्
dhvajottamāgrochchita-dhūmaketuḥ śarārciṣaṁ kopamahā-samīram | mahādhanuḥ-jyā-tala-nemi-ghoṣaṁ tanūtrā-nānāvidha-śastra-homam ||
苏多说道：在那场大决战中，当如同毗湿摩之火焚烧般吞噬般度婆军时，高耸的旗幡仿佛是它的烟；箭雨便是它的火舌；忿怒化作狂风，助长其焰。巨弓弦的轰鸣、掌击之声与战车轮辙的隆隆，宛如烈焰噼啪作响；而甲胄与种种兵器，则成了那战火祭仪中的供献之物。
सूत उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses an extended fire-and-sacrifice metaphor to critique the moral dynamics of war: anger functions like a gale that magnifies destruction, and even those who withstand battle’s hardships can be undone by pramāda (carelessness). It implicitly urges vigilance and restraint, warning that wrath-driven conflict consumes indiscriminately.
Sūta describes the great battle as a raging conflagration: banners resemble smoke, arrows become flames, the sounds of bowstring and chariots become the crackle of fire, and armor and weapons are cast as offerings. The imagery evokes the Pāṇḍava forces being burned by a Bhīṣma-like blaze on the battlefield.