Shloka 16
Śaraṇāgata-Atithi-Dharma in the Kapota Narrative (कपोत-आख्यानम्—शरणागतधर्मः)
नावश्यायो5पि तत्रा भूत् कुत एवाभ्रजातय: । नद्य: संक्षिप्ततोयौघा: किंचिदन्तर्गतास्तत:
nāvasyāyo 'pi tatrābhūt kuta evābhrajātayaḥ | nadyaḥ saṃkṣiptatoyaughāḥ kiṃcid antargatās tataḥ ||
ਉਹ ਦਿਨਾਂ ਵਿੱਚ ਉੱਥੇ ਓਸ ਵੀ ਨਹੀਂ ਪੈਂਦੀ ਸੀ—ਫਿਰ ਬੱਦਲ ਕਿੱਥੋਂ ਜੰਮਣ? ਨਦੀਆਂ ਦੇ ਪਾਣੀ ਦੇ ਵਹਾਅ ਸਿਮਟ ਗਏ ਅਤੇ ਤਦੋਂ ਤੋਂ ਕਈ ਨਦੀਆਂ ਅੰਦਰ ਹੀ ਅੰਦਰ ਲੁਕ ਗਈਆਂ ਜਾਪਣ ਲੱਗੀਆਂ।
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse links moral and cosmic order with the stability of nature: when conditions become disordered, even basic cycles like mist, cloud-formation, and river-flow fail. It supports the Shanti Parva’s broader ethic that dharma sustains prosperity, while adharma leads to scarcity and collapse.
Bhīṣma describes a severe drying of the world: no mist arises, hence no clouds form, rainfall fails, and rivers shrink or vanish. The imagery functions as a warning-sign of a larger breakdown in the natural and social order being discussed in his instruction.