Shloka 12
मौसलोत्पत्तिः — The Birth of the Musala and the Sages’ Pronouncement
विभावसु: प्रज्वलितो वाम॑ विपरिवर्तते । नीललोहितमज्जिष्ठा विसृजन्नर्चिष: पृथक्,अग्निदेव प्रजजलित होकर अपनी लपटोंको वामावर्त घुमाते थे। उनसे कभी नीले रंगकी, कभी रक्तवर्णी और कभी मजीठके रंगकी पृथक्-पृथक् लपटें निकलती थीं
vibhāvasuḥ prajvalito vāmaṁ viparivartate | nīlalohitamajjiṣṭhā visṛjann arciṣaḥ pṛthak |
Vaiśampāyana said: The blazing Fire (Vibhāvasu) began to whirl in an inauspicious leftward spiral, casting forth separate tongues of flame—some blue, some blood-red, and some the deep madder hue. Those unnatural colors and the fire’s leftward turning signaled a grave disturbance in dharma and the cosmic order, foreshadowing calamity rather than auspicious rite.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses ritual-omen language to show that when dharma is destabilized, nature and sacred signs also become distorted. A leftward-whirling fire and abnormal flame-colors function as ethical-cosmic warnings: actions that violate order eventually manifest as unavoidable calamity.
Vaiśampāyana describes a portent: Agni, fully kindled, begins to rotate in a leftward spiral and emits distinct flames of unusual colors (blue, blood-red, madder). This is presented as an ominous sign foreshadowing impending disaster in the Mausala Parva events.