Shloka 15

Śaraṇāgata-Atithi-Dharma in the Kapota Narrative (कपोत-आख्यानम्—शरणागतधर्मः)

Devanagari script

न ववर्ष सहस्राक्ष: प्रतिलोमो5भवद्‌ गुरु: । जगाम दक्षिण मार्ग सोमो व्यावृत्तलक्षण:

Transliteration

na vavarṣa sahasrākṣaḥ pratilomo 'bhavad guruḥ | jagāma dakṣiṇa-mārgaṃ somo vyāvṛtta-lakṣaṇaḥ ||

Translation

সহস্ৰাক্ষ ইন্দ্ৰই বৰষুণ নকৰিলে; গুৰু (বৃহস্পতি) প্ৰতিলোম (ৱক্ৰ) গতি ধৰিলে; আৰু লক্ষণ-বিকৃত সোম (চন্দ্ৰ) দক্ষিণ পথলৈ গ’ল।

Word by Word

• न: not
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न

• ववर्ष: rained / poured (rain)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √वृष्
• Form: लिट् (Perfect), परस्मैपद, 3, singular

• सहस्राक्षः: the thousand-eyed one (Indra)
• सहस्राक्षः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: सहस्राक्ष
• Form: masculine, nominative, singular

• प्रतिलोमः: reverse / contrary (retrograde)
• प्रतिलोमः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: प्रतिलोम
• Form: masculine, nominative, singular

• अभवत्: became / was
• Type: Verb
• Root: √भू
• Form: लङ् (Imperfect), परस्मैपद, 3, singular

• गुरुः: Guru (Bṛhaspati/Jupiter)
• गुरुः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: गुरु
• Form: masculine, nominative, singular

• जगाम: went
• Type: Verb
• Root: √गम्
• Form: लिट् (Perfect), परस्मैपद, 3, singular

• दक्षिण: southern / right
• Type: Adjective
• Root: दक्षिण
• Form: masculine, accusative, singular

• मार्गम्: path / course
• मार्गम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: मार्ग
• Form: masculine, accusative, singular

• सोमः: Soma (the Moon)
• सोमः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: सोम
• Form: masculine, nominative, singular

• व्यावृत्तलक्षणः: having altered/abnormal marks (with changed appearance)
• व्यावृत्तलक्षणः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: व्यावृत्तलक्षण
• Form: masculine, nominative, singular

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• Indra (Sahasrākṣa)
• Bṛhaspati (Guru/Jupiter)
• Soma (Moon)
• Dakṣiṇa-mārga (southern path)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse uses celestial and climatic anomalies as moral-symbolic indicators: when righteousness and proper governance decline, the world is perceived as losing harmony, and nature itself seems to mirror that imbalance through ominous signs.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhishma describes a sequence of ominous phenomena—Indra withholding rain, Bṛhaspati moving in a contrary/retrograde course, and the Moon taking a disturbed southward path—suggesting an atmosphere of inauspiciousness and disorder surrounding the events being discussed.