Shloka 40
उत्पातवर्णनम् (Utpāta-varṇanam) — Catalogue of Portents
नीललोहितपीतश्च भवत्यग्निहुतो द्विजै:,ब्राह्मणलोगोंके आहुति देनेपर प्रज्वलित हुई अग्नि काले, लाल और पीले रंगकी दिखायी देती है। उसकी लपटें वामावर्त होकर उठ रही हैं। उससे दुर्गन्ध निकलती है और वह भयानक शब्द प्रकट करती रहती है। राजन! स्पर्श, गन्ध तथा रस--इन सबकी स्थिति विपरीत हो गयी है
nīlalohitapītaś ca bhavaty agnihuto dvijaiḥ | brāhmaṇair āhutidāne prajvalito 'gnir nīla-lohita-pīta-varṇaḥ pradṛśyate | tasya laptā vāma-āvartaṃ kṛtvā ūrdhvaṃ uttiṣṭhanti | tasmād durgandhaḥ pravartate bhayānakaś ca śabdaḥ prādurbhavati | rājan sparśa-gandha-rasa—eteṣāṃ sarveṣāṃ sthitir viparītā jātā ||
Vyāsa said: “When the twice-born offer oblations, the sacrificial fire, though kindled, appears in ominous hues—dark, red, and yellow. Its flames rise in a leftward whirl; a foul stench issues from it, and it keeps producing terrifying sounds. O King, the very order of the senses—touch, smell, and taste—has turned contrary.”
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames ritual and sensory disorder as a moral-cosmic warning: when adharma and impending violence dominate, even sacred rites show inversion—inauspicious colors, leftward flames, foul odor, and fearful sounds—signaling that the world’s normal order is disturbed.
Vyāsa reports ominous portents observed in sacrificial fire during oblations by Brāhmaṇas: the fire appears in strange colors, its flames twist leftward, it emits stench and frightening noises, and the basic sensory qualities seem reversed—an announcement of calamity surrounding the coming conflict.