Shloka 9
उत्पातवर्णनम् (Utpāta-varṇanam) — Catalogue of Portents
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
pratimāś ca vālikhanty etāḥ saśastrāḥ kālacoditāḥ | anyonyam abhidhāvanti śiśavo daṇḍapāṇayaḥ ||
Vyāsa describes ominous portents driven by Time itself: armed figures are seen sketching and fashioning images, and even little children, sticks in hand, rush at one another as if in battle. The scene suggests moral disorder in society—innocence turning toward violence—foretelling the inevitable escalation of the coming war.
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
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.
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.