Shloka 3
शिखराणि व्यशीर्यन्त गिरीणां तत्र भारत | अपसव्यं मृगाश्चैव पाण्डुसेनां प्रचक्रिरे
śikharāṇi vyaśīryanta girīṇāṁ tatra bhārata | apasavyaṁ mṛgāś caiva pāṇḍusenāṁ pracakrire ||
Sañjaya said: “O Bhārata, there the very mountain-peaks seemed to crumble and fall away. And beasts, moving inauspiciously to the left, began to circle the army of the Pāṇḍavas—portents that cast an ominous shadow over the unfolding violence of war.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how adharma-driven violence is often framed in the epic through ominous portents: nature and animal behavior mirror moral disorder, warning that war’s momentum carries suffering and grave consequences.
Sañjaya reports fearful signs on the battlefield: mountain summits seem to break apart, and animals circle the Pāṇḍava forces moving ‘to the left’ (apasavya), a traditional indicator of inauspiciousness.