Shloka 19
Udyoga Parva 142: Vidura’s warning to Kuntī and Kuntī’s resolve to meet Karṇa
Gaṅgātīra encounter begins
गृध्रा: कड़का बका: श्येना यातुधानास्तथा वृका: । मक्षिकाणां च सड्घाता अनुधावन्ति कौरवान्,“इसी प्रकार गीध, कंक, बक, श्येन (बाज), राक्षस, भेड़िये तथा मक्खियोंके समूह कौरवोंके पीछे दौड़ते हैं
gṛdhrāḥ kaṅkā bakāḥ śyenā yātudhānās tathā vṛkāḥ | makṣikāṇāṃ ca saṅghātā anudhāvanti kauravān ||
Sañjaya said: “Vultures, herons, cranes, hawks, flesh-eating demons, and wolves—along with swarming masses of flies—are seen running after the Kauravas.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses ominous natural imagery to suggest that when leaders persist in adharma, destructive forces gather around them. It implies an ethical warning: unjust intent attracts ruin, and the world itself seems to signal the consequences of moral failure.
Sañjaya reports inauspicious portents: scavenging birds, predators, demonic beings, and swarms of flies are described as pursuing the Kauravas. This functions as foreshadowing of the coming war and the heavy death and disorder that will follow their course.