Shloka 23

Devanagari script

वाहनान्यप्रहृष्टानि रुदन्तीव विशाम्पते । गृध्रास्ते पर्युपासन्ते सैन्यानि च समन्तत:,'प्रजानाथ! हमारे सारे वाहन अप्रसन्न एवं रोते-से दिखायी देते हैं। गीध तुम्हारी सेनाओंको चारों ओरसे घेरकर बैठते हैं

Transliteration

vaiśampāyana uvāca |

vāhanāny aprahṛṣṭāni rudantīva viśāmpate |

gṛdhrās te paryupāsante sainyāni ca samantataḥ ||

Translation

Vaiśaṃpāyana said: “O lord of the people, our conveyances appear joyless, as though weeping; and vultures sit all around, encircling your armies.”

Word by Word

वाहनानिvehicles, conveyances

अप्रहृष्टानिnot delighted, dejected

रुदन्तीcrying

इवas if, like

विशाम्पतेO lord of the people

गृध्राःvultures

तेthose (they)

पर्युपासन्तेsit around, hover about, attend closely

सैन्यानिarmies, troops

चand

समन्ततःon all sides, all around

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

viśāmpati (lord of the people/king)

vāhanāni (conveyances/mounts)

gṛdhrāḥ (vultures)

sainyāni (armies)

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 inauspicious signs—dejected mounts and vultures gathering—to warn that war born of unrighteous intent brings inevitable grief and destruction; ethical failure in leadership manifests as collective suffering.

What is happening in the narrative?

A narrator reports ominous portents to a king: the army’s conveyances seem dispirited and vultures surround the troops, suggesting impending slaughter and foreshadowing the disastrous consequences of the coming conflict.