Shloka 18
Āśvamedhika Parva, Adhyāya 77 — Saindhava resistance, Arjuna’s restraint, and Duḥśalā’s supplication
शशं चाशु विनिर्भिद्य मण्डलं शशिनो5पतत् । विपरीता दिशश्वापि सर्वा धूमाकुलास्तथा
śaśaṃ cāśu vinirbhidya maṇḍalaṃ śaśino ’patat | viparītā diśaś cāpi sarvā dhūmākulās tathā ||
Vaiśampāyana dit : Les signes météoriques frappèrent promptement et fendirent la marque du lièvre sur la Lune, puis retombèrent tout autour du disque lunaire. Toutes les directions, elles aussi, furent étouffées par la fumée et semblèrent renversées — présage sinistre d’un bouleversement de l’ordre naturel, annonçant calamité prochaine et trouble du dharma dans le monde.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
When the cosmos appears disordered—moon-marks struck, directions inverted, smoke everywhere—the epic frames it as a moral warning: collective adharma and looming danger manifest as unsettling portents, urging rulers and society toward vigilance and restoration of dharma.
The narrator describes terrifying celestial omens: fiery objects (implied meteors/ulkaa) seem to strike the Moon’s hare-mark and fall around it, while all quarters become smoke-filled and appear reversed—an atmosphere of impending crisis.