Shloka 276
भीष्मस्य शरवर्षः — Bhīṣma’s Arrow-Storm and Kṛṣṇa’s Impulse to Intervene
ध्वानश्ष विविधैनदिर्वाशन्तस्तत्र मारिष | चारों ओरसे गीदड़ और बलशाली कौए वहाँ टूटे पड़ते थे। आर्य! वहाँ कुत्ते भी नाना प्रकारकी आवाजमें भूँकते देखे जाते थे
dhvānaś ca vividhā nadīr vāśantas tatra māriṣa | cāroṃ or se gīṛaṛ aur balaśālī kaue vahāṃ ṭūṭe paṛte the | ārya! vahāṃ kutte bhī nānā prakār kī āvāz meṃ bhūṃkte dekhe jāte the |
Sañjaya said: “O venerable one, there were many kinds of ominous cries and howls there. On every side jackals and powerful crows swooped down, and dogs too were seen barking in varied tones. Such portents, arising amid the field of slaughter, signal the moral darkness and impending ruin that accompany adharma in war.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores how war driven by adharma is accompanied by inauspicious signs—nature itself reflecting moral disorder. The imagery of scavengers and unsettling cries functions as an ethical warning about the destructive consequences of unrighteous conflict.
Sañjaya reports to the elder listener that the battlefield area is filled with ominous noises: jackals, crows, and dogs gather and cry out in varied ways, suggesting impending calamity and the grim atmosphere surrounding the fighting.