Shloka 12
बहव: पक्षिणो राजन् पुन्नामान: शुभा: शिवा:,प्रयाहि शीघ्र॑ गोविन्द सूतपुत्रजिघांसया । “गोविन्द! अब मेरा रथ तैयार हो। उसमें पुनः उत्तम घोड़े जोते जायँ और मेरे उस विशाल रथमें सब प्रकारके अस्त्र-शस्त्र सजाकर रख दिये जायाँ। अअभ्वारोहियोंद्वारा सिखलाये और टहलाये गये घोड़े रथसम्बन्धी उपकरणोंसे सुसज्जित हो शीघ्र यहाँ आवें और आप सूतपुत्रके वधकी इच्छासे जल्दी ही यहाँसे प्रस्थान कीजिये”
sañjaya uvāca |
bahavaḥ pakṣiṇo rājan punnāmānaḥ śubhāḥ śivāḥ |
prayāhi śīghraṃ govinda sūtaputra-jighāṃsayā ||
Sañjaya said: “O King, many auspicious and benign birds, bearing favorable names, are calling out. Go forth quickly, O Govinda, with the resolve to slay the charioteer’s son.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how, in the Mahābhārata’s war-ethos, action is often urged by a mix of perceived omens and martial resolve. It invites reflection on the ethical tension between interpreting signs as moral sanction and the stark reality that the immediate aim remains killing in battle.
Sañjaya reports to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra that auspicious birds are calling—taken as favorable omens—and conveys an urgent exhortation addressed to Govinda (Kṛṣṇa) to depart quickly with the intent of slaying the ‘sūtaputra,’ i.e., Karna.