Shloka 16
Śaraṇāgata-Atithi-Dharma in the Kapota Narrative (कपोत-आख्यानम्—शरणागतधर्मः)
नावश्यायो5पि तत्रा भूत् कुत एवाभ्रजातय: । नद्य: संक्षिप्ततोयौघा: किंचिदन्तर्गतास्तत:
nāvasyāyo 'pi tatrābhūt kuta evābhrajātayaḥ | nadyaḥ saṃkṣiptatoyaughāḥ kiṃcid antargatās tataḥ ||
उन दिनों वहाँ ओस तक नहीं पड़ती थी—फिर बादल कहाँ से उत्पन्न होते? नदियों के जलप्रवाह संकुचित हो गए और तब से कितनी ही नदियाँ भीतर ही भीतर लुप्त-सी हो गईं।
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse links moral and cosmic order with the stability of nature: when conditions become disordered, even basic cycles like mist, cloud-formation, and river-flow fail. It supports the Shanti Parva’s broader ethic that dharma sustains prosperity, while adharma leads to scarcity and collapse.
Bhīṣma describes a severe drying of the world: no mist arises, hence no clouds form, rainfall fails, and rivers shrink or vanish. The imagery functions as a warning-sign of a larger breakdown in the natural and social order being discussed in his instruction.