Shloka 6
Jaitrya-nimitta: Signs of Prospective Victory and the Priority of Conciliation (जयलक्षण-निमित्त तथा सान्त्व-प्रधान नीति)
अन्वेतान् वायवो यान्ति तथैवेन्द्रधनूंषि च । अनुप्लवन्तो मेघाश्व॒ तथा5<5दित्यस्य रश्मय:,यदि सेनाकी रणयात्राके समय सैनिकोंके पीछेसे मन्द-मन्द वायु प्रवाहित हो, सामने इन्द्रधनुषका उदय हो, बार-बार बादलोंकी छाया होती रहे और सूर्यकी किरणोंका भी प्रकाश फैलता रहे तथा गीदड़, गीध और कौए भी अनुकूल दिशामें आ जाया तो निश्चय ही उस सेनाको परम उत्तम सिद्धि प्राप्त होती है
anvetān vāyavo yānti tathaivendradhanuṃṣi ca | anuplavanto meghāś ca tathādityasya raśmayaḥ ||
अन्वेतान् वायवो यान्ति तथैवेन्द्रधनूंषि च । अनुप्लवन्तो मेघाश्च तथादित्यस्य रश्मयः ॥
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma frames battlefield success not only in terms of strength but also in terms of reading auspicious and inauspicious signs. The teaching reflects a dharma-śāstra style worldview in which nature’s patterns—wind, light, cloud, and animal movement—are interpreted as indicators of moral and practical fortune for a campaign.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on rājanīti and conduct. Here he lists favorable portents for an army’s departure to battle: supportive winds, a rainbow ahead, alternating cloud-shade with sunlight, and (as the prose gloss notes) certain birds/animals moving in auspicious directions—signs taken to predict victory.