Shloka 25

Devanagari script

एकपफक्षाक्षिचरण: शकुनि: खचरो निशि । रौद्रं वदति संरब्ध: शोणितं छर्दयन्निव,रातमें एक आँख, एक पाँख और एक पैरका पक्षी आकाशमें विचरता है और कुपित होकर भयंकर बोली बोलता है। उसकी बोली ऐसी जान पड़ती है, मानो कोई रक्त वमन कर रहा हो

Transliteration

ekapakṣākṣicaraṇaḥ śakuniḥ khacaro niśi | raudraṁ vadati saṁrabdhaḥ śoṇitaṁ chardayann iva ||

Translation

Vyāsa said: In the night there moved through the sky a bird of ill omen, having but one wing, one eye, and one foot. Enraged, it uttered a dreadful cry—its sound seeming as though it were vomiting blood—foretelling a violent, unrighteous slaughter and the terror that accompanies the coming war.

Word by Word

एकपक्षाक्षिचरणःhaving one wing, one eye, and one foot

शकुनिःa bird (omen-bird)

खचरःsky-going; flying

निशिat night

रौद्रम्terrible, fierce (speech)

वदतिspeaks, utters

संरब्धःenraged, agitated

शोणितम्blood

छर्दयन्vomiting, spewing

इवas if, like

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vyasa

śakuni (omen-bird)

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 grotesque omen to signal that when collective conduct turns toward adharma, nature itself appears disturbed; such signs warn of impending violence and the moral darkness that precedes war.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vyāsa describes an ominous nocturnal portent: a deformed bird flying in the sky cries out fiercely, its cry compared to vomiting blood, indicating the dreadful bloodshed soon to unfold.