Shloka 23
भीष्मपर्व — अध्याय २: संजयस्य दिव्यदृष्टिप्रदानम् तथा निमित्तवर्णनम्
Granting Sañjaya Divine Sight and the Description of Omens
अलक्ष्य: प्रभयाहीन: पौर्णमासीं च कार्तिकीम् । चन्द्रो5भूदग्निवर्णश्र॒ पद्मवर्णनभस्तले
alakṣyaḥ prabhayāhīnaḥ paurṇamāsīṃ ca kārtikīm | candro 'bhūd agnivarṇaś ca padmavarṇanabhastale ||
Vaiśampāyana dit : «La nuit de pleine lune de Kārttika, la lune devint difficile à discerner, privée de son éclat. Dans l’étendue du ciel aux teintes de lotus, elle paraissait d’une couleur de feu.» C’est un présage funeste dans le récit : il annonce un trouble de l’ordre naturel, tandis que l’injustice et la destruction imminente de la guerre jettent leur ombre jusque sur les cieux.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores how moral and social collapse surrounding a great war is mirrored by unsettling signs in nature; such omens function as a reminder that adharma disturbs not only human society but symbolically the cosmic order as well.
Vaiśampāyana describes an ominous celestial phenomenon: on the Kārttika full-moon night the moon appears dim and difficult to see, taking on a fire-like hue in the sky—part of the portents surrounding the onset of the Kurukṣetra war.