Shloka 15

Devanagari script

सदण्डशूला दीप्ताग्रा: शीर्यमाणा: समन्ततः । उल्का भूमिं दिव: पेतुराहत्य रविमण्डलम्‌,आकाशसे बहुत-सी उल्काएँ सूर्यमण्डलसे टकराकर पृथ्वीपर गिरने लगीं। उनके साथ दण्डयुक्त शूल भी गिर रहे थे। उन उल्काओंके अग्रभाग अपनी दीप्तिसे दमक रहे थे। वे सब-की-सब चारों ओर बिखरी पड़ती थीं

Transliteration

sadaṇḍaśūlā dīptāgrāḥ śīryamāṇāḥ samantataḥ | ulkā bhūmiṃ divaḥ petur āhatya ravimaṇḍalam ||

Translation

サンジャヤは言った。「先端を燃え立たせた流星が天より地へと落ち、まるで太陽の円輪に打ち当たるかのようであった。砕け散って四方に飛び、槍の柄のような長い軸や、棒を備えた鋭い棘までもが共に雨のごとく降り注いだ。」

Word by Word

सदण्डशूलाःhaving spears with staffs (staffed spears)

दीप्ताग्राःhaving blazing tips

शीर्यमाणाःfalling down / dropping

समन्ततःon all sides, everywhere

उल्काःmeteors / firebrands

भूमिम्the earth (ground)

दिवःfrom the sky/heaven

पेतुःfell

आहत्यhaving struck / after striking

रविमण्डलम्the sun’s disk/orb

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

ulkāḥ (meteors)

ravimaṇḍala (sun’s orb)

bhūmi (earth)

div (sky/heaven)

daṇḍa-śūla (staff-armed spikes/spear-like forms)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse functions as an omen: when human conduct descends into large-scale violence and adharma, the epic frames the world itself as reflecting that rupture. It is less a doctrinal instruction than an ethical atmosphere—nature’s terrifying signs underscore the gravity of the war’s moral collapse.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports dreadful portents: meteors with blazing tips fall from the sky to the earth, seeming to strike the sun’s orb, then shatter and scatter in all directions, appearing like weapon-shapes (staff-armed spikes/spears).