Shloka 19
Āśvamedhika Parva, Adhyāya 77 — Saindhava resistance, Arjuna’s restraint, and Duḥśalā’s supplication
रासभारुणसंकाशा धनुष्मन्त: सविद्युतः । आवृत्य गगन मेघा मुमुचुर्मासशोणितम्,गधेके समान रंग और लाल रंगके सम्मिश्रणसे जो रंग हो सकता है, वैसे वर्णवाले मेघ आकाशको घेरकर रक्त और मांसकी वर्षा करने लगे। उनमें इन्द्रधनुषका भी दर्शन होता था और बिजलियाँ भी कौंधती थीं
rāsabhāruṇasaṅkāśā dhanuṣmantaḥ savidyutaḥ | āvṛtya gaganaṃ meghā mumucur māsaśoṇitam ||
Vaiśampāyana said: Clouds, dark like the hue of a donkey and tinged with ruddy redness, bearing bow-like arcs and flashing with lightning, covered the sky and began to pour down flesh and blood. The sight was a dreadful omen, signaling the collapse of natural order and forewarning the moral and physical devastation that follows from violent disorder.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses a terrifying portent—blood-and-flesh rain and a sky overwhelmed by ominous clouds—to suggest that when violence and adharma intensify, even nature appears to revolt, warning humans of the ethical consequences of disorder and cruelty.
Vaiśampāyana narrates a dreadful atmospheric phenomenon: clouds cover the sky, lightning flashes, bow-like arcs appear, and the clouds pour down flesh and blood—an inauspicious sign indicating impending calamity or the aftermath of grievous wrongdoing.