Shloka 9
Droṇa-parva Adhyāya 50 — Arjuna’s foreboding and lament for Abhimanyu; Kṛṣṇa’s dharma-consolation
अतीव हृष्टा: श्वशृूगालवायसा बका: सुपर्णाश्च वृकास्तरक्षव: । वयांस्यसृक्पान्यथ रक्षसां गणा: पिशाचसंघाश्व सुदारुणा रणे,कुत्ते, सियार, कौए, बगुले, गरुड़, भेड़िये, तेंदुए, रक्त पीनेवाले पक्षी, राक्षसरोंके समुदाय तथा अत्यन्त भयंकर पिशाचगण उस रणभूमिमें बहुत प्रसन्न हो रहे थे
sañjaya uvāca |
atīva hṛṣṭāḥ śvaśṛgāla-vāyasā bakāḥ suparṇāś ca vṛkās tarakṣavaḥ |
vayāṃsy asṛk-pāny atha rakṣasāṃ gaṇāḥ piśāca-saṅghāś ca sudāruṇā raṇe ||
Sañjaya said: On that battlefield, the scavengers and predators were exceedingly delighted—dogs, jackals, crows, herons, and great birds of prey; wolves and leopards; birds that drink blood; and also the bands of Rākṣasas and the dread companies of Piśācas. Their grim joy signals how war, when it turns into slaughter, becomes a feast for forces that thrive on death, standing as an ominous moral commentary on the devastation of the conflict.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse functions as a moral omen: when warfare degenerates into mass killing, it attracts scavengers and sinister beings who ‘rejoice’ in death. The narrative implicitly condemns the dehumanizing excess of battle by showing nature and the demonic feeding upon its aftermath.
Sañjaya describes the battlefield scene: animals and birds that feed on corpses and blood, along with Rākṣasas and Piśācas, are portrayed as delighted amid the carnage—an ominous sign of the battle’s ferocity and the spread of death.