Dvārakā’s Distress and the Saubha Engagement (द्वारकाव्यग्रता तथा सौभयुद्धम्)
प्रसार्य बाहू पतत: प्रसार्य चरणावपि । रूप॑ं पितुर्मे विबभौ शकुने: पततो यथा,हाथों और पैरोंको फैलाकर गिरते हुए मेरे पिताका शरीर मरकर गिरनेवाले पक्षीके समान जान पड़ता था
prasārya bāhū patataḥ prasārya caraṇāv api | rūpaṁ pitur me vibabhau śakuneḥ patato yathā ||
Vāyu said: “As he fell, with his arms outstretched and even his feet extended, my father’s form appeared like that of a bird dropping lifeless from the sky.”
वायुदेव उवाच
The verse underscores the fragility of embodied life: even a powerful being’s body can collapse suddenly, and death reduces the living form to a helpless fall—prompting reflection on impermanence and the need to act with dharma while life endures.
Vāyu describes a vivid scene of his father’s death or collapse: the body falls with limbs spread out, and the sight is compared to a bird that drops dead while flying—an image meant to convey shock, helplessness, and the stark finality of death.