Mahabharata 7.50.3 — Drona Parva, Adhyaya 50, Shloka 3

Droṇa-parva Adhyāya 50 — Arjuna’s foreboding and lament for Abhimanyu; Kṛṣṇa’s dharma-consolation

Devanagari script

ततो निशाया दिवसस्य चाशिव: शिवारुतै: संधिरवर्तताद्भधुत: । कुशेशयापीडनिभे दिवाकरे विलम्बमाने<स्तमुपेत्य पर्वतम्‌

Transliteration

tato niśāyā divasasya cāśivaḥ śivārutaiḥ sandhir avartatādbhutaḥ | kuśeśayāpīḍanibhe divākare vilambamāne ’stam upetya parvatam ||

Translation

Sañjaya berkata: Kemudian tibalah pertemuan ajaib antara malam dan siang, namun terasa sial, digelapkan oleh lolongan seram serigala hutan. Ketika matahari masih berlengah dan menghampiri gunung tempat terbenam, ia tampak seperti mahkota teratai yang ditekan turun—senja yang mengerikan jatuh ke atas medan perang, seakan menandakan kegelapan moral yang dilepaskan oleh perang.

Word by Word

• {'tataḥ': 'then, thereafter', 'niśāyāḥ': 'of the night', 'divasasya': 'of the day', 'sandhiḥ': 'junction, transition (twilight)', 'āśivaḥ': 'inauspicious, unpropitious', 'śivārutaiḥ': 'with the cries/howls of jackals', 'adbhutaḥ': 'marvellous, strange, uncanny', 'avartata': 'came to be, occurred, set in', 'kuśeśaya': 'lotus (water-lily)', 'āpīḍa': 'crown, diadem', 'nibhe': 'like, resembling', 'divākare': 'when the sun (day-maker)', 'vilambamāne': 'lingering, delaying', 'astam': 'setting (west), sunset', 'upetya': 'having approached, reaching', 'parvatam': 'mountain'}

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• the Sun (Divākara)
• mountain of sunset (Asta-parvata)
• jackals (śivā)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse uses ominous natural signs—twilight and jackal cries—to suggest that violence and adharma cast a shadow over the world; even ordinary transitions like sunset can feel morally and emotionally foreboding amid war.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes the onset of evening on the battlefield: the sun is setting behind the western mountain, and the howling of jackals makes the twilight seem uncanny and inauspicious, foreshadowing grim events.