Shloka 30
भीष्मपर्व — अध्याय २: संजयस्य दिव्यदृष्टिप्रदानम् तथा निमित्तवर्णनम्
Granting Sañjaya Divine Sight and the Description of Omens
उभे संध्ये प्रकाशेते दिशां दाहसमन्विते । पर्जन्य: पांसुवर्षी च मांसवर्षी च भारत,"दोनों संध्याएँ दिग्दाहसे युक्त दिखायी देती हैं। भारत! बादल धूल और मांसकी वर्षा करता है
ubhe sandhye prakāśete diśāṁ dāhasamanvite | parjanyaḥ pāṁsuvārṣī ca māṁsavārṣī ca bhārata ||
Vaiśampāyana said: Both twilights appear ominously aflame, as though the quarters themselves are burning. O Bhārata, the clouds rain down dust—and even flesh—portents that the moral order has been grievously disturbed and that the coming battle will be marked by widespread destruction.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores that when adharma swells toward a catastrophic conflict, nature itself is described as reflecting moral and cosmic disturbance through terrifying portents. It frames the war not as a mere political event but as an ethical crisis with consequences that reverberate through the whole world.
Vaiśampāyana reports ominous signs appearing around the time of the great war: the horizons seem to burn at both dawn and dusk, and clouds are said to rain dust and even flesh. These are traditional epic portents foreshadowing massive slaughter and the breakdown of normal order as the armies move toward battle.