Shloka 32
Śaraṇāgata-Atithi-Dharma in the Kapota Narrative (कपोत-आख्यानम्—शरणागतधर्मः)
उलूकपक्षिध्वनिभिद्देवतायतनैर्व॒॑तम् । लोहघण्टापरिष्कारं श्वयूथपरिवारितम्
ulūkapakṣi-dhvanibhir devatāyatanair vṛtam | loha-ghaṇṭā-pariṣkāraṃ śva-yūtha-parivāritam ||
भीष्म बोले—वह स्थान देवालयों से घिरा था, जिनके भीतर उल्लुओं और अन्य पक्षियों की आवाजें गूँजती रहती थीं। वहाँ के घर लोहे की घंटियों से सजाए गए थे और झुंड-के-झुंड कुत्ते उन्हें चारों ओर से घेरे रहते थे।
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse evokes a moral-psychological atmosphere: when sacred places and homes are marked by unsettling signs (owl-cries, roaming packs of dogs), it suggests a decline in auspicious order and a warning to reflect on conduct (dharma) and the state of society.
Bhishma is describing a locality filled with deity-shrines where eerie bird-calls echo; houses are fitted with iron bells, and packs of dogs surround the area—details that create a foreboding, ominous setting.