Shloka 44
उत्पातवर्णनम् (Utpāta-varṇanam) — Catalogue of Portents
पकक््वापक्वेति सुभृशं वावाश्यन्ते वयांसि च । निलीयमन्ते ध्वजाग्रेषु क्षयाय पृथिवीक्षिताम्,बहुत-से पक्षी “पक्वा-पक्वा” इस शब्दका बारंबार जोर-जोरसे उच्चारण करते और ध्वजाओंके अग्रभागमें छिपते हैं। यह लक्षण राजाओंके विनाशका सूचक है
pakvāpakveti subhṛśaṁ vāvāśyante vayāṁsi ca | nilīyamante dhvajāgreṣu kṣayāya pṛthivīkṣitām ||
Birds, crying loudly again and again, call out “ripe, unripe,” and then hide themselves upon the tips of the banners—an ominous sign foretelling the destruction of the kings who rule the earth. In the ethical frame of the epic, such portents signal that adharma-driven conflict is ripening toward inevitable ruin.
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the Mahabharata’s moral logic that when conflict is driven by adharma, nature itself appears to warn of the coming collapse of unrighteous power; ominous signs foreshadow the karmic consequences awaiting kings who persist in destructive war.
Vyasa reports a battlefield portent: birds cry out loudly with the repeated sound “pakvāpakvā” and then perch and hide on the tops of banners. This is presented as an inauspicious sign indicating imminent destruction for the assembled rulers.