Mahabharata 3.21.27 — Vana Parva, Adhyaya 21, Shloka 27
Dvārakā’s Distress and the Saubha Engagement (द्वारकाव्यग्रता तथा सौभयुद्धम्)
प्रसार्य बाहू पतत: प्रसार्य चरणावपि । रूप॑ं पितुर्मे विबभौ शकुने: पततो यथा,हाथों और पैरोंको फैलाकर गिरते हुए मेरे पिताका शरीर मरकर गिरनेवाले पक्षीके समान जान पड़ता था
prasārya bāhū patataḥ prasārya caraṇāv api | rūpaṁ pitur me vibabhau śakuneḥ patato yathā ||
Thần Vāyu nói: “Khi người ngã xuống, hai tay dang rộng, đến cả đôi chân cũng duỗi ra, hình dáng phụ thân ta hiện lên như một con chim rơi khỏi trời cao, rũ xác không còn sinh khí.”
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the fragility of embodied life: even a powerful being’s body can collapse suddenly, and death reduces the living form to a helpless fall—prompting reflection on impermanence and the need to act with dharma while life endures.
Vāyu describes a vivid scene of his father’s death or collapse: the body falls with limbs spread out, and the sight is compared to a bird that drops dead while flying—an image meant to convey shock, helplessness, and the stark finality of death.
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