>>8625663>Vaisampayana continued,--"That highly-blessed and holy grandsire of theKurus, having said so, once more addressed Dhritarashtra and
said,--'Great will the slaughter be, O monarch, in this battle. I see
here also (numerous) omens indicative of terror. Hawks and vultures, and
crows and herons, together with cranes, are alighting on the tops of
trees and gathering in flocks. These birds, delighted at the prospect of
battle, are looking down (on the field) before them. Carnivorous beasts
will feed on the flesh of elephants and steeds. Fierce herons, foreboding
terror, and uttering merciless cries, are wheeling across the centre
towards the southern region. In both the twilights, prior and posterior,
I daily behold, O Bharata, the sun during his rising and setting to be
covered by headless trunks. Tri-coloured clouds with their extremities
white and red and necks black, charged with lightning, and resembling
maces (in figure) envelope the sun in both twilights. I have seen the
sun, the moon, and the stars to be all blazing. No difference in their
aspect is to be noted in the evening. I have seen this all day and all
night. All this forbodes fear. On even the fifteenth night of the
lighted-fortnight in (the month of) Kartika, the moon, divested of
splendour, became invisible, or of the hue of fire, the firmament being
of the hue of the lotus. Many heroic lords of earth, kings and princes,
endued with great bravery and possessed of arms resembling maces, will be
slain and sleep lying down on the earth.
>pic, oriental style Arjuna