Mahabharata (Gita Press) 3.21.27 - Vana Parva, Adhyaya 21, Shloka 27
Dvārakā’s Distress and the Saubha Engagement (द्वारकाव्यग्रता तथा सौभयुद्धम्)
प्रसार्य बाहू पतत: प्रसार्य चरणावपि । रूप॑ं पितुर्मे विबभौ शकुने: पततो यथा,हाथों और पैरोंको फैलाकर गिरते हुए मेरे पिताका शरीर मरकर गिरनेवाले पक्षीके समान जान पड़ता था
prasārya bāhū patataḥ prasārya caraṇāv api | rūpaṁ pitur me vibabhau śakuneḥ patato yathā ||
Vāyu dit : «Comme il tombait, les bras déployés et même les pieds tendus, la forme de mon père paraissait celle d’un oiseau qui chute du ciel, déjà sans vie.»
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the fragility of embodied life: even a powerful being’s body can collapse suddenly, and death reduces the living form to a helpless fall—prompting reflection on impermanence and the need to act with dharma while life endures.
Vāyu describes a vivid scene of his father’s death or collapse: the body falls with limbs spread out, and the sight is compared to a bird that drops dead while flying—an image meant to convey shock, helplessness, and the stark finality of death.
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