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 ||
वैशम्पायन बोले—उल्काएँ शीघ्र ही चन्द्रमा के शश-चिह्न को भेदकर चन्द्रमण्डल के चारों ओर गिर पड़ीं। सब दिशाएँ धुएँ से भरकर उलटी-सी प्रतीत होने लगीं—यह जगत् में अनिष्ट और धर्म-व्यतिक्रम का घोर संकेत था।
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.