Shloka 51

Devanagari script

सकाननाश्षाद्रिचयाश्न॒कम्पिरे प्रविव्यथुर्भूतगणा श्र सर्वे । बृहस्पति: सम्परिवार्य रोहिणीं बभूव चन्द्रार्कसमो विशाम्पते,वनोंसहित पर्वतसमूह काँपने लगे, सम्पूर्ण भूतसमुदाय व्यथित हो उठे। प्रजानाथ! बृहस्पति नामक ग्रह रोहिणी नक्षत्रकों सब ओरसे घेरकर चन्द्रमा और सूर्यके समान प्रकाशित होने लगा

Transliteration

sa-kānanāḥ śādri-cayāś ca kampire pravivyathuḥ bhūta-gaṇāḥ ca sarve | bṛhaspatiḥ samparivārya rohiṇīṁ babhūva candrārka-samo viśāṁ-pate ||

Translation

Śalya said: “The forests and the clustered mountain ranges began to tremble, and all the hosts of beings were shaken with fear. O lord of men, the planet Bṛhaspati, surrounding the Rohiṇī constellation on every side, blazed forth with a radiance like the Moon and the Sun.” In the war-narrative, these cosmic portents signal a moral and existential disturbance: nature itself mirrors the disorder unleashed by adharma and the approaching catastrophe on the battlefield.

Word by Word

• {'sa-kānanāḥ': 'together with the forests

• the wooded regions', 'śādri-cayāḥ': 'heaps/collections of mountains

• mountain ranges', 'kampire': 'trembled, shook', 'pravivyathuḥ': 'were distressed, were violently agitated', 'bhūta-gaṇāḥ': 'multitudes/hosts of beings (spirits, creatures, elemental beings)', 'sarve': 'all', 'bṛhaspatiḥ': 'Bṛhaspati

• also the preceptor of the gods', 'samparivārya': 'having surrounded, encircling on all sides', 'rohiṇīm': 'Rohiṇī (a lunar mansion/nakṣatra)', 'babhūva': 'became

• appeared', 'candrārka-samaḥ': 'equal to the Moon and the Sun

• as radiant as both', 'viśāṁ-pate': 'O lord of the people (royal address)'}

Speaker

शल्य उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Śalya
• Bṛhaspati (Jupiter)
• Rohiṇī (nakṣatra)
• Moon (Candra)
• Sun (Arka/Āditya)
• forests
• mountain ranges
• hosts of beings (bhūta-gaṇas)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse uses celestial and natural upheaval as an ethical signal: when adharma and mass violence dominate, the world is portrayed as losing harmony, and ominous signs warn rulers to reflect on responsibility, restraint, and the consequences of war.

What is happening in the narrative?

Śalya reports terrifying portents: forests and mountains tremble, beings are distressed, and Jupiter (Bṛhaspati) appears extraordinarily radiant while encircling the Rohiṇī nakṣatra—an inauspicious sign foreshadowing grave events in the battle.