Shloka 25
द्रोण-पार्थ-युद्धम्
Droṇa–Pārtha Strategic Engagement
अमानुषाणां भूतानां तेषां च ध्वजवासिनाम् । ऊर्ध्व॑ पुच्छान् विधुन्चाना रेभभाणा: समन्तत: । गाव: प्रतिन्यवर्तन्त दिशमास्थाय दक्षिणाम्
amānuṣāṇāṃ bhūtānāṃ teṣāṃ ca dhvajavāsinām | ūrdhva-pucchān vidhunvānā rebhabhāṇāḥ samantataḥ | gāvaḥ pratinyavartanta diśam āsthāya dakṣiṇām ||
अमानुषाणां भूतानां तेषां च ध्वजवासिनाम्। ऊर्ध्वपुच्छान् विधुन्वानाः रेभमाणाः समन्ततः। गावः प्रतिन्यवर्तन्त दिशमास्थाय दक्षिणाम्॥
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how fear and ominous signs can disrupt order: even animals react instinctively to perceived inauspicious forces. In epic ethics, such portents often warn leaders to act with vigilance, restraint, and discernment rather than rashness.
As strange, non-human presences are perceived around the army’s banners, the cattle become agitated—raising and shaking their tails, bellowing, and then turning back, moving toward the south—an inauspicious directional sign within the epic’s omen-language.