THE MAHABHARATA.
MAUSALA PARVA.
Section I.
Bowing down unto Nārāyana, and to Nara, the foremast of men, as also to the goddess Saraswati, should the word Jaya be uttered.
Vaiçampāyana said,—"When the thirty-sixth year (after the battle) was reached, the delighter of the Kurus, viz., Yudhishthira, beheld many unusual portents.1 Winds, dry and strong, and showering gravels, blew from every side. Birds began to wheel, making circles from right to left.2 The great rivers ran in opposite directions. The horizon on every side seemed to be always covered with fog. Meteors, showering (blazing) coals, fell on the Earth from the sky.3 The Sun's disc, O king, seemed to be always covered with dust. At its rise, the great luminary of day was shorn of splendour and seemed to be crossed by headless trunks (of human beings).4 Fierce circles of light were seen every day around both the Sun and the Moon.[1] These circles showed three hues. Their edges seemed to be black and rough and ashy-red in colour.5 These and many other omens, foreshadowing fear and danger, were seen, O king, and filled the hearts of men with anxiety.6 A little while after, the Kuru king Yudhishthira heard of the wholesale carnage of the Vrishnis in consequence of the iron bolt.7 The son of Pāndu, hearing that only Vāsudeva and Rāma had escaped with life, summoned his brothers and took counsel with them as to what they should do.8 Meeting with one another, they became
- ↑ This refers to the well-known phenomenon called Corona of the two great luminaries.—T.
