Shloka 9
Bhīṣma’s Fall, the Arrow-bed (śara-talpa), and the Establishment of Guard
पपात महती चोल्का मध्येनादित्यमण्डलात् । सकबन्धश्न परिघो भानुमावृत्य तिष्ठतति,'सूर्यमण्डलके मध्यभागसे बड़ी-बड़ी उल्काएँ गिरी हैं। कबन्धयुक्त परिघ सूर्यको चारों ओरसे घेरकर स्थित है
sañjaya uvāca | papāta mahatī colkā madhyenādityamaṇḍalāt | sa-kabandhaś ca parigho bhānum āvṛtya tiṣṭhati ||
Sañjaya sprach: „Ein großer Meteor fiel aus der Mitte der Sonnenscheibe. Und ein ringförmiger, haloartiger Kreis, der die Gestalt eines ‘Kabandha’—eines kopflosen Rumpfes—trägt, steht da, die Sonne umschließend und verhüllend.“
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses cosmic portents to suggest that when collective conduct turns toward adharma—driven by anger, greed, and refusal of rightful counsel—nature itself is perceived as reflecting moral imbalance, warning of imminent suffering and the need for restraint and right judgment.
Sanjaya reports ominous signs: a large meteor seems to fall from the sun’s disk, and a ring-like phenomenon associated with a ‘kabandha’ form appears to encircle and obscure the sun. These are narrated as forebodings of the catastrophic war about to unfold.