Shloka 15

Devanagari script

न ववर्ष सहस्राक्ष: प्रतिलोमो5भवद्‌ गुरु: । जगाम दक्षिण मार्ग सोमो व्यावृत्तलक्षण:,इन्द्रने वर्षा बंद कर दी थी, बृहस्पति प्रतिलोम (वक्री) हो गया था, चन्द्रमा विकृत हो गया था और वह दक्षिण मार्गपर चला गया था

Transliteration

na vavarṣa sahasrākṣaḥ pratilomo 'bhavad guruḥ | jagāma dakṣiṇa-mārgaṃ somo vyāvṛtta-lakṣaṇaḥ ||

Translation

Bhīṣma said: “Sahasrākṣa (Indra) did not send rain; Guru (Bṛhaspati) moved in a contrary course; and the Moon, with its signs disturbed, turned and proceeded along the southern path.”

Word by Word

नnot

ववर्षrained / poured (rain)

सहस्राक्षःthe thousand-eyed one (Indra)

प्रतिलोमःreverse / contrary (retrograde)

अभवत्became / was

गुरुःGuru (Bṛhaspati/Jupiter)

जगामwent

दक्षिणsouthern / right

मार्गम्path / course

सोमःSoma (the Moon)

व्यावृत्तलक्षणःhaving altered/abnormal marks (with changed appearance)

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

Indra (Sahasrākṣa)

Bṛhaspati (Guru/Jupiter)

Soma (Moon)

Dakṣiṇa-mārga (southern path)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse uses celestial and climatic anomalies as moral-symbolic indicators: when righteousness and proper governance decline, the world is perceived as losing harmony, and nature itself seems to mirror that imbalance through ominous signs.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhishma describes a sequence of ominous phenomena—Indra withholding rain, Bṛhaspati moving in a contrary/retrograde course, and the Moon taking a disturbed southward path—suggesting an atmosphere of inauspiciousness and disorder surrounding the events being discussed.