Shloka 28
Rukmī’s Offer of Aid and Arjuna’s Refusal (रुक्मिप्रस्तावः—अर्जुनप्रत्याख्यानम्)
सिंहनादाश्न विविधा वाहनानां च नि:स्वना: । प्रादुरासन्नन भ्रे च वर्ष रुधिरकर्दमम्,उस समय वीरोंके सिंहनाद तथा वाहनोंके नाना प्रकारके शब्द सब ओर गूँज उठे। बिना बादलके ही आकाशसे रक्तकी वर्षा होने लगी, जिसकी कीच जम गयी
siṃhanādāś ca vividhā vāhanānāṃ ca niḥsvanāḥ | prādurāsann anabhrē ca varṣaṃ rudhirakardamam ||
Vaiśampāyana said: Many kinds of lion-like war-cries and the varied clamour of chariots and other vehicles resounded on every side. And though the sky was cloudless, a rain of blood appeared, turning the ground into a mire of gore—an ominous portent foretelling the moral darkness and devastation that war unleashes.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames war as ethically catastrophic: even nature seems to protest through ominous signs. The ‘rain of blood’ symbolizes the inevitable human suffering and moral pollution that follow when conflict escalates beyond dharma.
As martial preparations intensify, heroic roars and the rumble of war-vehicles fill the surroundings. Simultaneously, a supernatural portent occurs—blood rains from a cloudless sky, creating a mire—signaling impending slaughter and grave consequences.