Shloka 23
अलक्ष्य: प्रभयाहीन: पौर्णमासीं च कार्तिकीम् । चन्द्रो5भूदग्निवर्णश्र॒ पद्मवर्णनभस्तले,“कार्तिककी पूर्णिमाको कमलके समान नीलवर्णके आकाशमें चन्द्रमा प्रभाहीन होनेके कारण दृष्टिगोचर नहीं हो पाता था तथा उसकी कान्ति भी अग्निके समान प्रतीत होती थी
alakṣyaḥ prabhayāhīnaḥ paurṇamāsīṃ ca kārtikīm | candro 'bhūd agnivarṇaś ca padmavarṇanabhastale ||
Vaiśampāyana said: On the full-moon night of Kārttika, the moon became hard to discern, bereft of its radiance. In the lotus-hued expanse of the sky, it appeared with a fiery coloration—an ominous sign in the narrative, suggesting a disturbance in the natural order as the war’s unrighteousness and impending destruction cast their shadow even upon the heavens.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores how moral and social collapse surrounding a great war is mirrored by unsettling signs in nature; such omens function as a reminder that adharma disturbs not only human society but symbolically the cosmic order as well.
Vaiśampāyana describes an ominous celestial phenomenon: on the Kārttika full-moon night the moon appears dim and difficult to see, taking on a fire-like hue in the sky—part of the portents surrounding the onset of the Kurukṣetra war.