Shloka 26
द्रोणेन सात्यकिपीडनम् — Yudhiṣṭhira’s Charge to Sātyaki amid Droṇa’s Onslaught
तस्याद्य गृध्रा: श्येनाश्न चण्डगोमायवस्तथा । भक्षयिष्यन्ति मांसानि ये चान्ये पुरुषादका:,आज गीध, बाज, क्रोधमें भरे हुए गीदड़ तथा अन्य नरभक्षी जीव-जन्तु जयद्रथका मांस खायेंगे
tasyādya gṛdhrāḥ śyenāś ca caṇḍa-gomāyavas tathā | bhakṣayiṣyanti māṁsāni ye cānye puruṣādakāḥ ||
Vāyu said: “Today, vultures and hawks, and fierce jackals as well, along with other man-eating creatures, will devour his flesh.” The words cast the battlefield’s moral horror in stark relief: wrongdoing ripens not into honor, but into the degrading fate of carrion—an ethical warning of adharma’s consequence in war.
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the ethical consequence of violent wrongdoing: in war driven by adharma, the end is not glory but a humiliating, dehumanizing fate—becoming prey for scavengers—serving as a moral warning about karma and the degradation caused by unrighteous conduct.
Vāyu foretells a grim battlefield outcome: scavenging birds and jackals, along with other flesh-eaters, will consume the slain warrior’s body. It functions as a prophetic omen of imminent death and the brutal aftermath of combat.