Shloka 44
Bhīmasena–Hanūmān Saṃvāda: The Tail Test and the Divine Path
रथाज्रसाद्वदात्यूहा हंसकारण्डवप्लवा: | शुका: पुंस्कोकिला: क्रौज्चा विसंज्ञा भेजिरे दिश:,सूअर, मृगसमूह, जंगली भैंसे, बाघों तथा गीदड़ोंके समुदाय और गवय--ये सब-के- सब एक साथ चीत्कार करने लगे। चक्रवाक, चातक, हंस, कारण्डव, प्लव, शुक, कोकिल और क्रौंच आदि पक्षियोंने अचेत होकर भिन्न-भिन्न दिशाओंकी शरण ली
rathāgrasād vadāty ūhā haṃsakāraṇḍavaplavāḥ | śukāḥ puṃskokilāḥ krauñcā visaṃjñā bhejire diśaḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana said: From the very front of the chariot there arose a loud, ominous outcry. Swans, kāraṇḍava-ducks, plava-birds, parrots, male cuckoos, and krauñca-cranes—struck as if senseless—fled to different directions. The scene signals a disturbance in the natural order, a foreboding that dharma is under strain and that impending events will bring fear and dislocation even to innocent creatures.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses an omen in nature—birds becoming stunned and scattering—to suggest that when adharma or grave danger approaches, harmony in the world is disturbed. It encourages attentiveness to signs of moral and cosmic imbalance and the need for prudent, dharmic action.
A sudden, ominous clamor arises near the chariot-front, and various birds (swans, ducks, water-birds, parrots, cuckoos, cranes) panic and flee in different directions, indicating fear and an inauspicious atmosphere surrounding the unfolding events.