Shloka 11
Udyoga Parva 142: Vidura’s warning to Kuntī and Kuntī’s resolve to meet Karṇa
Gaṅgātīra encounter begins
सोमस्य लक्ष्म व्यावृत्तं राहुररकमुपैति च । दिवश्लोल्का: पतन्त्येता: सनिर्घाता: सकम्पना:,'चन्द्रमाका कलंक (काला चिह्न) मिट-सा गया है, राहु सूर्यके समीप जा रहा है। आकाशसे ये उल्काएँ गिर रही हैं, वजपातके-से शब्द हो रहे हैं और धरती डोलती-सी जान पड़ती है
somasya lakṣma vyāvṛttaṃ rāhur arkam upaiti ca | divaś colkāḥ patanty etāḥ sanirghātāḥ sakampanāḥ ||
Sañjaya said: “The mark upon the Moon seems to have shifted, and Rāhu is drawing near to the Sun. From the sky these meteors are falling; there are thunderous crashes, and the earth appears to tremble.” In the Udyoga context, such portents are narrated as ominous signs that adharma-driven conflict is ripening toward catastrophic war.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames extraordinary celestial and terrestrial disturbances as moral-cosmic warnings: when rulers and communities move toward adharma and unjust war, nature itself is described as signaling impending collective suffering and the need for restraint and right counsel.
Sañjaya reports ominous portents—changes in the Moon’s mark, Rāhu nearing the Sun (eclipse imagery), meteors falling, thunderous sounds, and trembling of the earth—heightening the sense that the political crisis is nearing a disastrous war.