Shloka 87

Kubera’s Fivefold Nīti and Protection of the Pāṇḍavas (वैश्रवणोपदेशः)

Devanagari script

रक्तपीतारुणा: पार्थ पादपाग्रगता: खगा:

Transliteration

raktapītāruṇāḥ pārtha pādapāgragatāḥ khagāḥ

Translation

قال فايشَمبايانا: «يا بارثا، تُرى طيورٌ بلونٍ أحمرَ قانٍ كالدّم، وآخرَ مائلٍ إلى الصفرة المحمَرّة، قد حطّت على أطراف قمم الأشجار.»

Word by Word

• रक्तपीतारुणाः: red, yellow, and tawny (colored)
• रक्तपीतारुणाः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: रक्त + पीत + अरुण
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• पार्थ: O Partha (Arjuna)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पार्थ
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• पादपाग्रगताः: gone to / situated on the tops of trees
• पादपाग्रगताः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पादप + अग्र + गत
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• खगाः: birds
• खगाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: खग
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Pārtha (Arjuna)
• birds (khagāḥ)
• trees (pādapāḥ)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how the epic uses nature and unusual sights as moral and narrative signals: disturbances in the natural world are read as portents, prompting vigilance, restraint, and discernment (dharma) when circumstances feel unstable.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana reports to Pārtha (Arjuna) the sight of strangely colored birds perched on treetops. Such a detail typically serves to build suspense and indicate an ominous turn or approaching danger within the forest episode.