संजय उवाच
तव दुर्मन्त्रिते राजन् दुर्योधनकृतेन च ॥
शृणुष्वावहितो भूत्वा यत् ते वक्ष्यामि भारत ॥
ते पुनः संन्यवर्तन्त कृत्वा संशप्तकान् मिथः ॥
परां युद्धे मतिं कृत्वा पुत्रस्य तव शासनात् ॥
त्रीणि सादिसहस्राणि दुर्योधनपुरोगमाः ॥
शकाः काम्बोजबाह्लीका यवनाः पारदास् तथा ॥
कुणिन्दास् तङ्गणाम्बष्ठाः पैशाचाश् च समन्दराः ॥
अभ्यद्रवन्त शैनेयं शलभाः पावकं यथा ॥
saṃjaya uvāca
tava durmantrite rājan duryodhanakṛtena ca ||
śṛṇuṣvāvahito bhūtvā yat te vakṣyāmi bhārata ||
te punaḥ saṃnyavartanta kṛtvā saṃśaptakān mithaḥ ||
parāṃ yuddhe matiṃ kṛtvā putrasya tava śāsanāt ||
trīṇi sādisahasrāṇi duryodhanapurogamāḥ ||
śakāḥ kāmbojabāhlīkā yavanāḥ pāradās tathā ||
kuṇindās taṅgaṇāmbaṣṭhāḥ paiśācāś ca samandarāḥ ||
abhyadravanta śaineyaṃ śalabhāḥ pāvakaṃ yathā ||
"By your ill counsel, O king, and by what Duryodhana did — listen, becoming attentive, to what I shall tell you, O Bharata. They turned back again, having bound themselves by mutual oath, having taken the highest resolve in battle, by the command of your son. Three thousand horsemen led by Duryodhana — Shakas, Kambojas, Bahlikas, Yavanas and Paradas, Kunindas, Tanganas and Ambashthas, and Paishachas with Mandaras — rushed upon Shaineya, like moths upon a flame."
25ab3c72fbfe · published Jul 19, 2026, 4:08:02 PM UTC
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The warriors rush upon Satyaki "śalabhāḥ pāvakaṃ yathā", like moths upon fire: an image of a doomed onrush. It is telling that they themselves fly to their own destruction at the command of the instigator. The verse teaches that blind obedience to the unrighteous leads to certain death: as moths perish in the flame, drawn by its light, so those driven by the will of an unrighteous leader rush into the fire that will consume them.