Shloka 186
दीपयन्ती उभे सेने शंसन्तीव महद् भयम् | सूर्यमण्डलसे बड़ी भारी उल्का निकलकर दोनों सेनाओंको प्रकाशित करती और महान् भयकी सूचना-सी देती हुई पृथ्वीपर गिर पड़ी
dīpayantī ubhe sene śaṃsantīva mahad bhayam | sūryamaṇḍalasaṃnibhā bhārī ulkā nikalya ubhayasenāṃ prakāśayantī mahadbhayasyābhisūcanāmiva dadatī pṛthivyāṃ nipapāta |
Sañjaya said: A great meteor, like the disc of the sun, blazed forth—illumining both armies—and, as though proclaiming a mighty terror, fell down upon the earth. In the moral atmosphere of the war, this portent signals an intensifying descent into adharma and the looming harvest of violence that neither side can escape.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses a cosmic omen to underscore moral consequence: when violence and adharma intensify, nature itself is portrayed as warning of impending catastrophe, reminding listeners that actions in war carry unavoidable ethical and karmic weight.
Sañjaya reports a portent on the battlefield: a huge, sun-like meteor appears, lights up both the Kaurava and Pāṇḍava armies, and then falls to the earth, suggesting imminent danger and escalating dread.