Shloka 17
Udyoga Parva 142: Vidura’s warning to Kuntī and Kuntī’s resolve to meet Karṇa
Gaṅgātīra encounter begins
अपस्व्या मृगा: सर्वे धार्तराष्ट्रस्य केशव । वाचश्नचाप्यशरीरिण्यस्तत् पराभवलक्षणम्,“केशव! सभी मृग दुर्योधनके बाँयेंसे निकलते हैं और उसे प्राय: ऐसी वाणी सुनायी देती है, जिसके बोलनेवालेका शरीर नहीं दिखायी देता। यह उसकी पराजयका चिह्न है
apasavyā mṛgāḥ sarve dhārtarāṣṭrasya keśava | vācaś cāpy aśarīriṇyas tat parābhava-lakṣaṇam ||
Sañjaya dijo: «Oh Keśava, todas las bestias salvajes pasan por la izquierda del hijo de Dhṛtarāṣṭra. Y él oye repetidas veces voces desencarnadas: palabras cuyo hablante no puede verse. Estas son señales que anuncian su derrota».
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames moral causality through omens: when a leader persists in adharma, nature and unseen forces are portrayed as signaling an approaching downfall. It underscores that unethical resolve invites ruin, even before the battlefield decides it.
Sanjaya reports to Krishna that Duryodhana is encountering inauspicious portents—animals moving to his left and disembodied voices—traditional indicators that his enterprise will end in defeat.