Shloka 57
समुद्रके जलमें ज्वार आ गया, धरती काँपने लगी, पर्वत टूट-फूटकर बिखरने लगे और दिग्गज मूर्च्छित हो गये ।। अन्धेन तमसा लोका न प्राकाशन्त संवृता: । जध्निवान् सह सूर्येण सर्वेषां ज्योतिषां प्रभा:,घोर अन्धकारसे आच्छादित हो जानेके कारण सम्पूर्ण लोकोंमें कहीं भी प्रकाश नहीं रह गया। भगवान् शिवने सूर्यसहित सम्पूर्ण ज्योतियोंकी प्रभा नष्ट कर दी
andhena tamasā lokā na prākāśanta saṃvṛtāḥ | jadhnivān saha sūryeṇa sarveṣāṃ jyotiṣāṃ prabhāḥ ||
Vyāsa said: When the worlds were enveloped by dreadful darkness, no light shone anywhere. Lord Śiva, as if striking down radiance itself, extinguished the brilliance of all luminaries, even that of the sun—an ominous sign that the moral order had been shaken amid the war’s horrors.
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames catastrophic darkness as a moral and cosmic warning: when adharma and violence peak, even the natural order appears to withdraw its light, reminding listeners that power and victory in war are subordinate to dharma and divine governance.
During the Drona Parva’s intense battle context, a terrifying darkness spreads so that no realm remains illuminated; it is described as Śiva’s act of extinguishing the radiance of all lights, including the sun, functioning as an ominous portent.