Shloka 73
उत्पातवर्णनम् (Utpāta-varṇanam) — Catalogue of Portents
अनुगा वायवो वान्ति तथाभ्राणि वयांसि च | अनुप्लवन्ति मेघाश्न तथैवेन्द्रधनूंषि च,राजन्! हवा जिनके अनुकूल बहती है, बादल और पक्षी भी जिनके अनुकूल होते हैं, मेघ जिनके पीछे-पीछे छत्रछाया किये चलते हैं तथा इन्द्रधनुष भी जिन्हें अनुकूल दिशामें ही दृष्टिगोचर होते हैं, उन विजयी वीरोंके लिये ये विजयके शुभ लक्षण हैं। जनेश्वर! मरणासन्न मनुष्योंको इसके विपरीत अशुभ लक्षण दिखायी देते हैं
anugā vāyavo vānti tathābhrāṇi vayāṃsi ca | anuplavanti meghāś ca tathaivendradhanuṃṣi ca, rājan |
Vyāsa said: “O King, when the winds blow in one’s favour, and the clouds and birds also move in harmony with that direction; when the clouds seem to follow along like a canopy of shade, and even rainbows appear in auspicious quarters—these are fortunate signs of victory for heroic men destined to prevail. But for those near death, the very opposite kinds of omens appear as inauspicious portents.”
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames nature’s alignment (wind, clouds, birds, rainbow) as symbolic confirmation of one’s destined outcome: auspicious concordant signs attend those headed for victory, while contrary, unsettling signs attend those approaching death—highlighting the epic’s theme that moral and karmic trajectories manifest as perceivable portents.
Vyāsa addresses the king and interprets battlefield-era portents: he lists favourable natural phenomena as signs that certain warriors will be victorious, and contrasts them with the reversed, ominous signs that appear to those whose end is near.