Shloka 383
Droṇasya raudra-prayogaḥ
Droṇa’s intensified assault and the Pāṇḍava response
उल्का ज्वलन्ती संग्रामे पुच्छेनावृत्य सर्वश: । उस समय एक प्रज्वलित एवं देदीप्यमान उल्का युद्धस्थलमें अपने पुच्छभागद्वारा सबको घेरकर भारी गर्जना और कम्पनके साथ पृथ्वीपर गिरी
sañjaya uvāca | ulkā jvalantī saṅgrāme pucchenāvṛtya sarvaśaḥ |
सञ्जय उवाच—तदा संग्राममध्ये ज्वलन्ती देदीप्यमाना उल्का पुच्छेन सर्वतः प्रसरता सर्वं परितोऽवृत्येव, महागर्जनकम्पनसहितं भूमौ निपपात।
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores how war is accompanied by ominous portents, suggesting that collective violence and moral decline (adharma) invite fear, instability, and foretold destruction; it cautions that ethical disorder manifests not only in human conduct but also in the perceived order of the world.
Sañjaya reports a terrifying battlefield omen: a blazing meteor with a spreading tail seems to cover everything and then crashes to the earth with a loud roar and tremors, heightening the sense of impending calamity during the Drona Parva war events.