Mahabharata 3.39.6 — Vana Parva, Adhyaya 39, Shloka 6
Arjuna’s Himalayan Departure and the Commencement of Severe Tapas
Janamejaya’s Inquiry; Sages Approach Śiva
क्षणेन तद् वनं सर्व नि:शब्दम भवत् तदा । नाद: प्रस्रवणानां च पक्षिणां चाप्युपारमत्,एक ही क्षणमें वह सारा वन शब्दरहित हो गया। झरनों और पक्षियोंतककी आवाज बंद हो गयी
kṣaṇena tad vanaṃ sarvaṃ niḥśabdam abhavat tadā | nādaḥ prasravaṇānāṃ ca pakṣiṇāṃ cāpy upāramat ||
Vaiśampāyana sprach: „In einem einzigen Augenblick verstummte der ganze Wald. Das Murmeln der Quellen erlosch, und selbst der Ruf der Vögel kam zum Stillstand—eine unheilvolle Stille senkte sich herab, als wäre die Natur selbst von plötzlicher Furcht oder Vorahnung getroffen.“
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how sudden silence in nature functions as a narrative sign of impending danger or awe. It suggests an ethical-literary idea common in the Mahābhārata: the world of living beings responds to extraordinary events, and attentive persons should read such signs with restraint and vigilance rather than heedlessness.
The narrator describes an abrupt transformation of the setting: the whole forest becomes soundless, with even springs and birds falling quiet. This atmospheric shift heightens suspense and signals that something momentous—often a fearful presence or critical encounter—is about to occur.
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