Shloka 4
द्रोणपर्व — अध्याय ९०: हार्दिक्यस्य पराक्रमः
Kṛtavarmā’s Stand against the Pāṇḍavas
बलानां वायसानां च पुरस्तात् सव्यसाचिन: । बहुलानि सहस्राणि प्राक्रीडंस्तत्र भारत,भारत! वहाँ सव्यसाची अर्जुनके सम्मुख आकाशमें कई हजार कौए और वायस क्रीडा करते हुए उड़ रहे थे
balānāṁ vāyasānāṁ ca purastāt savyasācinaḥ | bahulāni sahasrāṇi prākrīḍaṁs tatra bhārata ||
Sañjaya dit : Ô Bhārata ! Devant Savyasācin (Arjuna), des milliers de corbeaux voltigeaient et tournaient dans le ciel, comme en jeu—signe de mauvais augure au cœur de la guerre, annonçant la proximité de la mort et la sinistre moisson du champ de bataille.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores how, in a dharmic war narrative, nature’s signs (especially scavenger birds) are read as omens reminding warriors of mortality and the ethical gravity of violence—victory and loss alike are shadowed by death.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that before Arjuna, many thousands of birds—crows and balāḥ—circle and play in the sky, a foreboding battlefield sign suggesting imminent slaughter and the presence of death.