Shloka 13
Gadā-yuddhe Bhīma–Duryodhanayoḥ Tumulaḥ Saṃprahāraḥ
Mace-duel’s intense exchange
रक्षाश्न वाता: प्रववुर्नीचै: शर्करकर्षिण: । गिरीणां शिखराण्येव न्यपतन्त महीतले
sañjaya uvāca |
rakṣāśanā vātāḥ pravavur nīcaiḥ śarkarākarṣiṇaḥ |
girīṇāṃ śikharāṇy eva nyapatanta mahītale |
nirghātāśanā mahāghorā babhūvur lomaharṣaṇāḥ |
dīptāyāṃ diśi rājendra mṛgāś cāśubha-vedinaḥ ||
Sañjaya berkata: “Angin sarat debu dan kerikil bertiup rendah, menyeret batu-batu kecil di tanah. Puncak-puncak gunung seolah-olah jatuh menimpa bumi. Dentuman guruh yang menggerunkan bergema—petanda ngeri yang membuat bulu roma berdiri. Pada satu arah yang tampak seakan terbakar, wahai Raja, binatang-binatang memperlihatkan tanda-tanda yang meramalkan malapetaka.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores a Mahābhārata motif: when collective conduct sinks into adharma, nature itself appears disordered, presenting ominous signs. Ethically, it frames the coming violence as not merely a human conflict but a moral crisis whose consequences reverberate through the world.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra a sequence of terrifying portents—low, dust-choked winds dragging gravel, seeming collapse of mountain peaks, dreadful thunder and lightning, a quarter of the sky appearing to blaze, and animals behaving as if foretelling calamity—heightening the sense of impending disaster in the war.