Shloka 12
Bhīṣma’s Fall, the Arrow-bed (śara-talpa), and the Establishment of Guard
अपसय् ग्रहाश्चक्रुरलक्ष्माणं दिवाकरम् | अवाक्शिराश्न भगवानुपातिष्ठत चन्द्रमा:
sañjaya uvāca | apasavyaṃ grahāś cakrur alakṣmāṇaṃ divākaram | avākśirāś ca bhagavān upātiṣṭhata candramāḥ ||
Sañjaya disse: “Os planetas moveram-se em curso à esquerda (inauspicioso) ao redor do Sol, marcando-o com sinais funestos; e a venerável Lua ergueu-se com os seus chifres voltados para baixo—presságios de que a ordem do dharma estava sendo perturbada e de que o massacre vindouro seria grave e de mau agouro.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames war not merely as a political event but as a rupture in dharma reflected in nature: ominous celestial signs symbolize ethical disorder and warn that adharma-driven conflict brings widespread suffering.
Sañjaya reports portents seen in the sky: the planets take an inauspicious leftward course around the Sun, and the Moon rises with its horns turned downward—traditional indicators of impending calamity on the battlefield.