Shloka 9

उत्पातवर्णनम् (Utpāta-varṇanam) — Catalogue of Portents

Devanagari script

प्रतिमाश्चवालिखन्त्येता: सशस्त्रा: कालचोदिता: । अन्योन्यमभिधावन्ति शिशवो दण्डपाणय:,ये सब कालसे प्रेरित हो हाथोंमें हथियार लिये मूर्तियाँ लिखते और बनाते हैं। छोटे-छोटे बच्चे हाथमें डंडा लिये एक-दूसरेपर धावा करते हैं

Transliteration

pratimāś ca vālikhanty etāḥ saśastrāḥ kālacoditāḥ | anyonyam abhidhāvanti śiśavo daṇḍapāṇayaḥ ||

Translation

Vyāsa schildert unheilvolle Vorzeichen, vom Zeitlauf selbst getrieben: Bewaffnete Gestalten werden gesehen, wie sie Bilder skizzieren und formen, und sogar kleine Kinder, Stöcke in der Hand, stürmen aufeinander los wie im Kampf. Das Bild deutet auf sittliche Verwahrlosung in der Gesellschaft—Unschuld, die sich zur Gewalt neigt—und kündigt die unvermeidliche Zuspitzung des kommenden Krieges an.

Word by Word

प्रतिमाःimages, figures

चand

वालिखन्तिthey draw/inscribe

एताःthese

सशस्त्राःarmed, with weapons

कालचोदिताःimpelled by Time

अन्योन्यम्each other, mutually

अभिधावन्तिthey run at/charge

शिशवःchildren

दण्डपाणयःhaving sticks in hand

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vyāsa

kāla (Time)

pratimā (images/figures)

śastra (weapons)

daṇḍa (stick)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames the outbreak of violence as a symptom of a deeper, time-driven moral decline: when even children imitate combat, it signals that society’s ethical balance has been disturbed and that destructive conflict is nearing.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vyāsa reports inauspicious signs (utpāta) preceding the great war: armed figures appear making/drawing images, and children with sticks charge at each other, as if the spirit of battle has spread everywhere under the compulsion of Kāla.