Shloka 40
महीवियद्द्योसलिलानि वायुना यथा विरुग्णानि नदन्ति भारत | तथैव शब्दं भुवनेषु तं तदा जना व्यवस्यन् व्यथिताश्न चस्खलु:
mahī-viyad-dyo-salilāni vāyunā yathā virugṇāni nadanti bhārata | tathaiva śabdaṃ bhuvaneṣu taṃ tadā janā vyavasyan vyathitāś ca caskhaluḥ ||
Sañjaya said: “O Bhārata, just as earth, sky, heaven, and the waters—when violently driven and shaken by the wind—begin to roar, so at that moment a like dread sound spread through the worlds. People everywhere perceived it, and, stricken with fear and agitation, they staggered and fell from where they stood.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores how adharma-driven violence in war is mirrored by a sense of cosmic disquiet: when the moral order is strained, even ordinary people lose steadiness—symbolized by their stumbling—reminding rulers to heed signs of collective fear and ethical imbalance.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that an immense, ominous roar arose, likened to the elements roaring when driven by fierce wind. The sound seemed to pervade all realms, and people, terrified and unsettled, staggered and fell.