Shloka 6
Adhyāya 36: Ghora-yuddha-varṇanam
A Clinical Description of the Intensified Engagement
मृगपक्षिगणाश्वैव पृतनां बहुशस्तव । अपसव्यं तदा चक्रुरवेदयन्तो महाभयम्,बहुतेरे मृग और पक्षी महान् भयकी सूचना देते हुए अनेक बार आपकी सेनाको दाहिने करके चले गये
mṛgapakṣigaṇāś caiva pṛtanāṃ bahuśas tava | apasavyaṃ tadā cakrur avedayanto mahābhayam ||
Sañjaya berkata: Saat itu kawanan rusa dan gerombolan burung berulang kali mengitari pasukanmu dengan arah yang tidak mujur (berlawanan), seakan-akan mengabarkan kedahsyatan ketakutan besar yang akan datang.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the Mahābhārata theme that moral disorder in human action is mirrored by ominous signs in nature. The leftward (apasavya) movement functions as a warning that violence and adharma invite fear and ruin, even before the battlefield outcome is known.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that deer and birds repeatedly circled or moved past the Kaurava host in an inauspicious leftward direction, as if announcing great danger. It is presented as a battlefield omen foreshadowing distress for Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s side.