What is the fire motif?

Fire recurs throughout the Mahabharata in moments of destruction, but modulates based on the merit of that destruction. For example, early on Duryodhana tries to burn down the Pandava brothers' house to kill them, and he is clearly acting in adharma. But we also see funeral pyres, sacrificial fires, and various supernatural characters spewing fire. In these situations, fire is conjured as a force that draws a link between the material world and the cosmos, be that by the gods demonstrating their awesome powers using fire or by humans making offerings to the celestial beings to consecrate various rites.