Shloka 18

उपायैः पूर्ववधकथनम् / Strategic Justifications for Prior Eliminations

Devanagari script

उलूकाश्चाप्यदृश्यन्त शंसन्तो विपुलं भयम्‌

Transliteration

ulūkāś cāpy adṛśyanta śaṃsanto vipulaṃ bhayam

Translation

サンジャヤは言った。「さらに梟（ふくろう）までもが姿を現し、計り知れぬ恐怖を告げるかのようであった。」この戦記において、こうした凶兆は、正法の闇と迫り来る暴力の奔流を際立たせる。まるで自然そのものが、アダルマ（不法）と抑えのない憤怒が招く恐るべき報いを警告しているかのように。

Word by Word

• उलूकाः: owls
• उलूकाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: उलूक
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• अपि: also
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अपि

• अदृश्यन्त: were seen / appeared
• Type: Verb
• Root: दृश्
• Form: Imperfect (Laṅ), 3rd, Plural, Ātmanepada (passive sense)

• शंसन्तः: proclaiming / foretelling
• शंसन्तः: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: शंस्
• Form: Present active participle (Parasmaipada), Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• विपुलम्: great, immense
• Type: Adjective
• Root: विपुल
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• भयम्: fear, terror
• भयम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: भय
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• owls (ulūka)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how the epic frames war not only as human conflict but as a moral crisis: ominous natural signs symbolize the ethical weight of violence and warn that adharma-driven actions invite widespread fear and suffering.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that owls appeared as portents, ‘announcing’ great fear—an atmospheric detail used to foreshadow impending calamity on the battlefield.