Shloka 9
उत्पातवर्णनम् (Utpāta-varṇanam) — Catalogue of Portents
प्रतिमाश्चवालिखन्त्येता: सशस्त्रा: कालचोदिता: । अन्योन्यमभिधावन्ति शिशवो दण्डपाणय:,ये सब कालसे प्रेरित हो हाथोंमें हथियार लिये मूर्तियाँ लिखते और बनाते हैं। छोटे-छोटे बच्चे हाथमें डंडा लिये एक-दूसरेपर धावा करते हैं
pratimāś ca vālikhanty etāḥ saśastrāḥ kālacoditāḥ | anyonyam abhidhāvanti śiśavo daṇḍapāṇayaḥ ||
Vyāsa describes ominous portents driven by Time itself: armed figures are seen sketching and fashioning images, and even little children, sticks in hand, rush at one another as if in battle. The scene suggests a moral disorder in society—innocence turning toward violence—foretelling the inevitable escalation of the coming war.
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames the outbreak of violence as a symptom of a deeper, time-driven moral decline: when even children imitate combat, it signals that society’s ethical balance has been disturbed and that destructive conflict is nearing.
Vyāsa reports inauspicious signs (utpāta) preceding the great war: armed figures appear making/drawing images, and children with sticks charge at each other, as if the spirit of battle has spread everywhere under the compulsion of Kāla.