Shloka 8
मौसलोत्पत्तिः — The Birth of the Musala and the Sages’ Pronouncement
पाण्डुरा रक्तपादाश्न विहगा: कालचोदिता: । वृष्ण्यन्धकानां गेहेषु कपोता व्यचरंस्तदा,कालकी प्रेरणासे वृष्णियों और अन्धकोंके घरोंमें सफेद पंख और लाल पैरोंवाले कबूतर घूमने लगे
pāṇḍurā raktapādāś ca vihagāḥ kālacoditāḥ | vṛṣṇyandhakānāṃ geheṣu kapotā vyacaraṃs tadā ||
Vaiśaṃpāyana said: Driven by Time (fate), pale-feathered birds with red feet—pigeons—began to wander about within the houses of the Vṛṣṇis and Andhakas.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the Mahābhārata theme that Kāla (Time) and accumulated karma bring inevitable results; when decline is imminent, nature itself seems to mirror it through portents, urging attentiveness to ethical deterioration and its consequences.
As the Mausala Parva moves toward the destruction of the Yādavas, pigeons with pale feathers and red feet appear and roam in the homes of the Vṛṣṇis and Andhakas—an inauspicious omen indicating that fate is pressing toward a catastrophic end.