Inauspicious Omens and Arjuna’s Return from Dvārakā
दैवतानि रुदन्तीव स्विद्यन्ति ह्युच्चलन्ति च । इमे जनपदा ग्रामा: पुरोद्यानाकराश्रमा: । भ्रष्टश्रियो निरानन्दा: किमघं दर्शयन्ति न: ॥ २० ॥
daivatāni rudantīva svidyanti hy uccalanti ca ime jana-padā grāmāḥ purodyānākarāśramāḥ bhraṣṭa-śriyo nirānandāḥ kim aghaṁ darśayanti naḥ
The Deities in the temples seem to be weeping, sweating, and as if about to depart. Cities and villages, gardens, mines, and hermitages have lost their beauty and all joy. What calamity are these omens showing us?
In this verse Arjuna observes widespread inauspicious signs—deities seeming to weep and places losing their beauty—indicating a great calamity connected with Krishna’s departure.
Returning and sensing that something is terribly wrong, Arjuna interprets the unnatural omens and the joyless atmosphere as signals of a major loss—soon understood as Lord Krishna’s disappearance.
It teaches attentiveness to spiritual decline: when devotion and divine remembrance fade, life feels joyless—so one should restore spiritual practice and seek Krishna’s shelter.