Shloka 19

Devanagari script

रासभारुणसंकाशा धनुष्मन्त: सविद्युतः । आवृत्य गगन मेघा मुमुचुर्मासशोणितम्‌,गधेके समान रंग और लाल रंगके सम्मिश्रणसे जो रंग हो सकता है, वैसे वर्णवाले मेघ आकाशको घेरकर रक्त और मांसकी वर्षा करने लगे। उनमें इन्द्रधनुषका भी दर्शन होता था और बिजलियाँ भी कौंधती थीं

Transliteration

rāsabhāruṇasaṅkāśā dhanuṣmantaḥ savidyutaḥ | āvṛtya gaganaṃ meghā mumucur māsaśoṇitam ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana said: Clouds, dark like the hue of a donkey and tinged with ruddy redness, bearing bow-like arcs and flashing with lightning, covered the sky and began to pour down flesh and blood. The sight functioned as a dreadful omen, signaling a collapse of natural order and forewarning the moral and physical devastation that follows from violent disorder.

Word by Word

रासभारुणसंकाशाःhaving the appearance of (a color like) rāsā-bhāruṇa (a mixed reddish hue)

धनुष्मन्तःhaving a rainbow (bow)

सविद्युतःwith lightning

आवृत्यhaving covered / enveloping

गगनम्the sky

मेघाःclouds

मुमुचुःthey released / poured forth

मासशोणितम्flesh and blood

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

meghāḥ (clouds)

gaganam (sky)

vidyut (lightning)

dhanuḥ (bow/rainbow-like arc)

māṃsa (flesh)

śoṇita (blood)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse uses a terrifying portent—blood-and-flesh rain and a sky overwhelmed by ominous clouds—to suggest that when violence and adharma intensify, even nature appears to revolt, warning humans of the ethical consequences of disorder and cruelty.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana narrates a dreadful atmospheric phenomenon: clouds cover the sky, lightning flashes, bow-like arcs appear, and the clouds pour down flesh and blood—an inauspicious sign indicating impending calamity or the aftermath of grievous wrongdoing.