Shloka 27

भीष्मस्य शरवर्षः — Bhīṣma’s Arrow-Storm and Kṛṣṇa’s Impulse to Intervene

Devanagari script

सम्पतन्तश्न दृश्यन्ते गोमायुबलवायसा:

Transliteration

sampatantaś ca dṛśyante gomāyu-balavāyasāḥ

Translation

三阇耶禀告：豺狼与强壮的乌鸦一同俯冲而下，赫然可见——这是战争叙事中的凶兆，预示屠戮将至；当暴力逼迫正法之时，道义的幽暗便随之聚拢。

Word by Word

• सम्पतन्तः: falling down, swooping down
• सम्पतन्तः: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: सम्-√पत् (पत् गतौ)
• Form: वर्तमान कृदन्त (शतृ), परस्मैपद-कर्तरि, पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• दृश्यन्ते: are seen, appear
• Type: Verb
• Root: √दृश् (दृश् दर्शन)
• Form: लट्, आत्मनेपद, कर्मणि, प्रथम, बहुवचन

• गोमायु-बल-वायसाः: jackals, crows, and strong (ones) / strong crows (as a list of ominous creatures)
• गोमायु-बल-वायसाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: गोमायु + बल + वायस
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• jackals (gomāyu)
• crows (vāyasa)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how traditional omen-language frames war as not merely political conflict but a moral crisis: predatory scavengers gathering signals impending death and warns that adharma and violence bring grim consequences.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes battlefield portents—jackals and strong crows swooping down—indicating that the field is becoming a place of imminent carnage, where creatures associated with corpses and ruin appear in numbers.