[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Epic, Poetry, Drama & Narrative](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit) › [The Mahābhārata and its versions](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.mahabharata) › [The Great Epic of the Bhārata dynasty](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.mahabharata.vyasa) › 16.1 # The Great Epic of the Bhārata dynasty 16.1: atha prathamo'dhyāyaḥ Mahābhārata 16.1 - **Language:** Sanskrit ### atha prathamo'dhyāyaḥ ### [16.1.1](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.mahabharata.vyasa.16.1.1) vaiśaṃpāyana uvāca | ṣaṭtriṃśe tvatha saṃprāpte varṣe kauravanandanaḥ | dadarśa viparītāni nimittāni yudhiṣṭhiraḥ || 1 || > Vaishampayana said: "When the thirty-sixth year (after the battle) was reached, the delighter of the Kurus, Yudhishthira, beheld many unusual portents. Winds, dry and strong, and showering gravels, blew from every side. Birds began to wheel, making circles from right to left. 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. 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). Fierce circles of light were seen every day around both the Sun and the Moon. These circles showed three hues. Their edges seemed to be black and rough and ashy-red in colour. These and many other omens, foreshadowing fear and danger, were seen, O king, and filled the hearts of men with anxiety. A little while after, the Kuru king Yudhishthira heard of the wholesale carnage of the Vrishnis in consequence of the iron bolt. The son of Pandu, hearing that only Vasudeva and Rama had escaped with life, summoned his brothers and took counsel with them as to what they should do. Meeting with one another, they became greatly distressed upon hearing that the Vrishnis had met with destruction through the Brahmana’s rod of chastisement. The death of Vasudeva, like the drying up of the ocean, those heroes could not believe. In fact the destruction of the wielder of Saranga was incredible to them. Informed of the incident about the iron bolt, the Pandavas became filled with grief and sorrow. In fact, they sat down, utterly cheerless and penetrated with blank despair." > — Kisari Mohan Ganguli 1883, The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa ### [16.1.2](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.mahabharata.vyasa.16.1.2) vavurvātāḥ sanirghātā rūkṣāḥ śarkaravarṣiṇaḥ | apasavyāni śakunā maṇḍalāni pracakrire || 2 || ### [16.1.3](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.mahabharata.vyasa.16.1.3) pratyagūhurmahānadyo diśo nīhārasaṃvṛtāḥ | ulkāścāṅgāravarṣiṇyaḥ prapeturgaganādbhuvi || 3 || ### [16.1.4](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.mahabharata.vyasa.16.1.4) ādityo rajasā rājansamavacchannamaṇḍalaḥ | viraśmirudaye nityaṃ kabandhaiḥ samadṛśyata || 4 || ### [16.1.5](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.mahabharata.vyasa.16.1.5) pariveṣāśca dṛśyante dāruṇāḥ candrasūryayoḥ | trivarṇāḥ śyāmarūkṣāntāstathā bhasmāruṇaprabhāḥ || 5 || ### [16.1.6](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.mahabharata.vyasa.16.1.6) ete cānye ca bahava utpātā bhayaśaṃsinaḥ | dṛśyante'haraho rājanhṛdayodvegakārakāḥ || 6 || ### [16.1.7](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.mahabharata.vyasa.16.1.7) kasyacittvatha kālasya kururājo yudhiṣṭhiraḥ | śuśrāva vṛṣṇicakrasya mausale kadanaṃ kṛtam || 7 || ### [16.1.8](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.mahabharata.vyasa.16.1.8) vimuktaṃ vāsudevaṃ ca śrutvā rāmaṃ ca pāṇḍavaḥ | samānīyābravīdbhrātṝnkiṃ kariṣyāma ityuta || 8 || ### [16.1.9](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.mahabharata.vyasa.16.1.9) parasparaṃ samāsādya brahmadaṇḍabalātkṛtān | vṛṣṇīnvinaṣṭāṃste śrutvā vyathitāḥ pāṇḍavābhavan || 9 || ### [16.1.10](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.mahabharata.vyasa.16.1.10) nidhanaṃ vāsudevasya samudrasyeva śoṣaṇam | vīrā na śraddadhustasya vināśaṃ śārṅgadhanvanaḥ || 10 || ### [16.1.11](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.mahabharata.vyasa.16.1.11) mausalaṃ te pariśrutya duḥkhaśokasamanvitāḥ | viṣaṇṇā hatasaṃkalpāḥ pāṇḍavāḥ samupāviśan || 11 || ## Translations (1) - [The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.mahabharata.vyasa~en-ganguli.16.1.3) — Kisari Mohan Ganguli 1883, English ## Commentaries (5) - [Bhāratabhāvadīpa](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.mahabharata.vyasa!nilakantha.16.1.1) — Nīlakaṇṭha Caturdhara 1650, Sanskrit - [Jñānadīpikā](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.mahabharata.vyasa!devabodha) — Devabodha, Sanskrit - [Lakṣaślokālaṅkāra](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.mahabharata.vyasa!vadiraja) — Vādirāja, Sanskrit - [Mahābhārataṭīkā](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.mahabharata.vyasa!nilakantha-mahabharatatika) — Nīlakaṇṭha Dīkṣita, Sanskrit - [Lakṣābharaṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.mahabharata.vyasa!vadiraja-laksabharana) — Vādirāja Sūri, Sanskrit ## Other recensions (1) - [Vulgate (Nīlakaṇṭha's text)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.mahabharata.vyasa*vulgate.16.1.1) — Sanskrit ## Linked texts (3) - [Critical Studies in the Mahābhārata (V. S. Sukthankar Memorial Edition, Vol. I)](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.literature.sukthankar-1944.c7.s3.18) — V. S. Sukthankar, English - [Ancient Indian Historical Tradition](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.pargiter-1922.c29.305) — F. E. Pargiter, English - [Svapnacintāmaṇi](https://indike.org/pramana/in.astro.samhita.svapnacintamani.p382) — Jagaddēva, Sanskrit --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.mahabharata.vyasa.16.1](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.mahabharata.vyasa.16.1) · Pramāṇa