अपतद् दीप्यमाना च सनिर्घाता सकम्पना ॥
उल्का ज्वलन्ती संग्रामे पुच्छेनावृत्य सर्वशः ॥
परिवेषो महांश् चापि सविद्युत्स्तनयित्नुमान् ॥
भास्करस्याभवद् राजन् प्रयाते वाहिनीपतौ ॥
एते चान्ये च बहवः प्रादुरासन् सुदारुणाः ॥
उत्पाता युधि वीराणां जीवितक्षयकारकाः ॥
apatad dīpyamānā ca sanirghātā sakampanā ||
ulkā jvalantī saṃgrāme pucchenāvṛtya sarvaśaḥ ||
pariveṣo mahāṃś cāpi savidyutstanayitnumān ||
bhāskarasyābhavad rājan prayāte vāhinīpatau ||
ete cānye ca bahavaḥ prādurāsan sudāruṇāḥ ||
utpātā yudhi vīrāṇāṃ jīvitakṣayakārakāḥ ||
A blazing meteor fell over the battlefield with a thunderclap and an earth-shudder, its fiery tail enveloping everything around. And a great halo with flashes of lightning and thunder formed around the sun, O king, when the lord of the army [Drona] set out. These and many other most gruesome omens, portending death in battle for the heroes, appeared then.
d1ba693084e5 · published Jul 19, 2026, 2:46:26 PM UTC
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The omens multiply -- a thundering bolide, a blood-red halo around the sun: heaven seems to insist on its warning, repeating it ever more menacingly. And all this happens "as the commander sets forth" -- the very start of Drona's march is marked with signs of death, as if creation already mourns him too, led by duty into an unjust battle. The verse teaches that warnings of disaster are not given once but multiply, for as long as there is still time to turn back; that entering upon a wrongful cause is accompanied by signs of ruin for those who enter it; and that heroes marching into battle under a hail of evil omens are driven not by blind fate but by their own stubbornness, unwilling to heed the warning they have been shown.