Shloka 25
Udyoga Parva 142: Vidura’s warning to Kuntī and Kuntī’s resolve to meet Karṇa
Gaṅgātīra encounter begins
एकपक्षाक्षिचरणा: पक्षिणो मधुसूदन । उत्सृजन्ति महद् घोरं तत् पराभवलक्षणम्,“मधुसूदन! एक पाँख, एक आँख और एक पैरवाले पक्षी अत्यन्त भयंकर शब्द करते हैं। यह भी कौरवपक्षकी पराजयका ही लक्षण है
ekapakṣākṣicaraṇāḥ pakṣiṇo madhusūdana | utsṛjanti mahad ghoraṃ tat parābhavalakṣaṇam ||
Sañjaya dit : «Ô Madhusūdana, des oiseaux difformes — n’ayant qu’une aile, qu’un œil et qu’une patte — poussent des cris puissants et terrifiants. C’est là encore un présage de défaite imminente.»
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the Mahābhārata’s moral logic that unrighteous resolve (adharma) draws warnings and consequences; ominous signs function as ethical alarms, urging reflection and restraint before irreversible violence.
Sañjaya reports to the listener that terrifying, abnormal birds are crying out—an inauspicious omen interpreted as a sign of imminent defeat for the side headed toward wrongdoing in the coming conflict.