Shloka 5
Adhyāya 36: Ghora-yuddha-varṇanam
A Clinical Description of the Intensified Engagement
उल्कापाताश्च संजज्ुर्दिशां दाहास्तथैव च । शुष्काशन्यश्व सम्पेतुर्वयुर्वाताश्च॒ भैरवा:,उस समय सूर्यमण्डलसे सात बड़े-बड़े ग्रह निकलते दिखायी दिये, उल्कापात होने लगे, दिशाओंमें आग-सी जल उठी, बिना वर्षके ही बिजलियाँ गिरने लगीं और भयानक आँधी चलने लगी
ulkāpātāś ca sañjajñur diśāṃ dāhās tathaiva ca | śuṣkāśanyaś ca sampetur vayur vātāś ca bhairavāḥ ||
Sañjaya said: Portents erupted—meteors fell, the quarters seemed to blaze as if on fire, lightning struck even without rain, and terrifying winds rose.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the Mahābhārata motif that collective violence and adharma disturb the moral-cosmic order, which is mirrored through ominous natural signs. Such portents function as ethical warnings: when righteous restraint is abandoned, destruction gathers momentum and becomes difficult to avert.
Sañjaya reports frightening battlefield omens—meteor-falls, the quarters seeming to burn, lightning without rain, and violent winds—signaling an impending intensification of calamity in the Karṇa Parva war events.