Shloka 19

Karṇa’s Counsel on Śrī

Fortune) and the Proposed Display before the Exiled Pāṇḍavas (कर्णवचनम् / श्रीप्रदर्शन-प्रस्तावः

Devanagari script

अड्जप्रत्यज्भसम्भूतश्नतुर्थ्यामभवद्‌ गुह: । लोहिताभ्रेण महता संवृत: सह विद्युता

Transliteration

aḍjapratyajbhasambhūtaś caturthyām abhavad guhaḥ | lohitābhreṇa mahatā saṃvṛtaḥ saha vidyutā ||

Translation

Mārkaṇḍeya nói: “Đến ngày thứ tư, một hang động mênh mông hiện ra, kết thành từ khối tụ của thứ quang huy (u tối) ấy. Nó bị bao phủ bởi một đám mây đỏ lớn, lóe chớp liên hồi.”

Word by Word

अण्डजfrom the egg-born (i.e., from the egg)

प्रत्यग्भfrom the inner/returning radiance (glow)

सम्भूतःarisen, produced

चतुर्थ्याम्on the fourth (day/phase)

अभवत्became, came to be

गुहःGuha (a being/person named Guha)

लोहिताभ्रेणby/with a red cloud

महताgreat, huge

संवृतःcovered, enveloped

सहtogether with

विद्युताwith lightning

Speaker

मार्कण्डेय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Mārkaṇḍeya

guha (cavern)

lohita-abhra (red cloud)

vidyut (lightning)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores how extraordinary natural phenomena—clouds, lightning, sudden formations—are narrated as meaningful portents, reminding listeners that human plans unfold within a larger, awe-inspiring cosmic order.

What is happening in the narrative?

Mārkaṇḍeya describes a dramatic scene: by the fourth day a large cavern appears, and it is shrouded in a massive red cloud accompanied by lightning, heightening the sense of an ominous or wondrous event.