Shloka 99

Devanagari script

उच्चावचं दैवयुक्तं रहस्यं दिव्या: प्रश्ना मृगचक्रा मुहूर्ता: । क्षयं महान्तं कुरुसूंजयानां निवेदयन्ते पाण्डवानां जयं च,'वे दैवसम्बन्धी उन्नति एवं अवनतिके फलदायक रहस्य बता सकते हैं। प्रश्नोंके अलौकिक ढंगसे उत्तर देते हैं, जिससे भविष्य घटनाओंका ज्ञान हो जाता है। वे शुभाशुभ फलोंका वर्णन करनेके लिये सर्वतोभद्र आदि चक्रोंका भी अनुसंधान करते हैं और मुहूर्तशास्त्रके तो वे पण्डित ही हैं। वे सब लोग निश्चितरूपसे यह निवेदन करते हैं कि कौरवों और सूंजयवंशके लोगोंका बड़ा भारी संहार होनेवाला है और इस महायुद्धमें पाण्डवोंकी विजय होगी

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca |

ucchāvacaṃ daivayuktaṃ rahasyaṃ divyāḥ praśnā mṛgacakrā muhūrtāḥ |

kṣayaṃ mahāntaṃ kurusūñjayānāṃ nivedayante pāṇḍavānāṃ jayaṃ ca ||

Translation

Sañjaya said: “They can disclose the hidden, fate-linked secret by which one understands both rise and fall. They answer questions in a wondrous, almost superhuman manner, giving insight into events yet to come. By examining auspicious and inauspicious results through devices such as the all-round ‘bhadra’ and other astrological wheels, and being masters of the science of auspicious timings, they firmly report this: a great destruction awaits the Kurus and the Sūñjayas, and in this great war the Pāṇḍavas will be victorious.”

Word by Word

उच्चावचम्high and low; various

दैवयुक्तम्connected with fate/divine influence

रहस्यम्secret; mystery

दिव्याःdivine; wondrous

प्रश्नाःquestions; queries

मृगचक्राःanimal/omen-circles (astrological/omen wheels)

मुहूर्ताःmuhūrtas; auspicious time-divisions

क्षयम्destruction; ruin

महान्तम्great; massive

कुरुसूंजयानाम्of the Kurus and the Sūñjayas

निवेदयन्तेthey report; they declare

पाण्डवानाम्of the Pāṇḍavas

जयम्victory

चand

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Kuru(s)

Sūñjaya(s)

Pāṇḍava(s)

muhūrta (auspicious timing)

cakra (divinatory/astrological wheel)

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 underscores that outcomes in the coming war are not merely strategic but bound up with daiva (the moral-cosmic order of consequences). Expert prognostication—through questions, timing, and divinatory ‘wheels’—converges on a single ethical-narrative conclusion: adharma-driven aggression leads to ruin, while the side aligned with rightful claim and restraint is foretold to prevail.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to the Kuru court that skilled seers/astrologer-diviners, versed in muhūrta and prognosticatory diagrams, have declared a grim forecast: massive destruction will befall the Kurus and Sūñjayas, and the Pāṇḍavas will win the impending great war.