Shloka 19
Somadatta’s Kṣātra-Dharma Accusation; Night Combat, Māyā, and the Fall of Ghaṭotkaca
Droṇa-parva, Adhyāya 131
प्रादुरासन् निमित्तानि घोराणि सुबहून्युत । गृध्रकड़कबलै श्वासीदन्तरिक्षं समावृतम्
prādurāsan nimittāni ghorāṇi subahūny uta | gṛdhrakaṅkabalaiḥ śvāsi dantarikṣaṃ samāvṛtam ||
Sañjaya said: Many dreadful portents suddenly appeared. The sky was covered over by flocks of vultures and herons, and by the harsh, panting cries of dogs—ominous signs that the battle was turning toward ruin and death, warning of the moral and human cost of unchecked fury.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores that mass violence and moral disorder are accompanied by foreboding signs—nature itself reflecting the gravity of adharma and the inevitable suffering that follows uncontrolled wrath in war.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that terrifying omens have arisen: the sky is filled with ominous birds like vultures and herons, along with the unsettling presence/cries of dogs—signals of impending calamity on the battlefield.