What are some of the good and bad omens? [closed]

Question

Omen (Shakunam) is a phenomenon which is believed to foretell what will happen in future. What are some of the good and bad omen according to Hindu scriptures?

Answer 1

We can find a lot about dreams and omens in Agni Purana. Few good/bad omens are listed below:

Good Omens:

Good omens while leaving house are facing white flowers, full vessels, meat, distant sounds, goat, cow, horse, elephant, fire, gold, silver, sword, umbrella, fruits, butter or curd, sugarcane, sound of thunder, lightning, dead body without anybody crying, donkey’s braying; buffalo crossing from left to right; horse, cats, donkeys, from right to left; crows near door or with mud, or a dog with meat in mouth and so on.

Bad omens:

Bad omens are facing cotton, dry grass, cowdung, coal, leather, hair, a lunatic, chandala, widow, ashes, bones, sound of musical instruments, break down of vehicle, fall of umbrella on head, recall back before journey and so on.’

And, some very bad omens are found in the Vayu Purana:

Dreams and omens help people to predict the future. A person who cannot see the Pole Star (Dhruva) or the Milky Way (Chhayapatha) will die within the space of a year. If the sun seems to be faded to you, you will not live for more than eleven months. A person who dreams of vomiting gold or silver is not destined to live for more than ten months. If one’s footmarks on dust or mud are not complete, one will die within seven months. If a vulture, a crow, or a dove, alights on your head, that is a reason for sorrow. That means that you will die within six months. A person whose reflection is distorted, or a person who is suddenly surrounded by a cloud of dust, will live for four or five months at the most. If one sees lightning although there are no clouds in the sky, or if one sees a rainbow in the water, the indicated life span is merely of two or three months. If a person sees that his refection has a severed head, he will live for only one month.A person who reeks of the smell of dead bodies has but a fortnight to live. If you find that your feet are dry after taking a bath, that is a reason for great sorrow. That means that you will die within a space of ten day. The implications are the same if you find that smoke billows out of your head. A person whose thirst is never slaked, will die very soon.

Note that all of them foretell that death is near. It seems that this Purana doesn't have the list of good omens! only bad ones are listed.

Some more bad omens are given below:

It is a bad omen if jackals follow one around at the stroke of dawn. Death will come soon, as it will if your teeth chatter after having a bath. When a lamp is extinguished, a burn smell lingers in the air. If you cannot smell this, you will not live for long. Other bad omens which signal the end of life are the following; seeing a rainbow at night; failing to see one’s own reflection in the pupil of another person’s eye; continuous watering from one eye; a rough and blackened tongue; deafness; and blindness. There are several other bad omen

Only thing positive that I salvaged from this page are the following lines:

It is not the case that these bad dreams and bad omens cannot be countered. The best way to counteract their influence is to chant the mantra (incantation) om.

Some further omens from this Agni Purana page (some repeated some already not mentioned in the answer):

If one is about to go out of the house, one should take care of any omens that there might be. Such bad omens are cotton, dried grass, cowdung, coal, molasses, leather, hair, a lunatic, a chandala, a widow, a dead body, ashes, bones and a broken vessel. If one comes across these as one is about to leave, one should not start without pacifying the elements through prayers to Vishnu. The sound of musical instruments is not an auspicious sound at the beginning of a journey. If the means of transport by which one is travelling breaks down, that too, is a bad omen. If weapons break, perhaps you should postpone the journey. The same is the case if an umbrella held over one’s head happens to fall. If one hits one’s head against the lintel of the door as one is about too cross the threshold, prayers are again indicated. And never call back someone who has just left. That is a bad omen and bodes ill for the success of the journey.

The above is a list of few bad omens. Few good ones are as given below:

There are good omens for a departure and if one sees these good omens, the journey is bound to be successful. Good omens are white flowers, full vessels, meat, distant noises, an old goat, a cow, a horse, an elephant, fire, gold, silver, a sword, an umbrella, fruit, clarified butter, curds, a conch shell, sugarcane, the sound of thunder, lightning and a dead body with no one crying over it.

Some more omens that are not related to starting a journey as follows:

Omens are important even if one is not going on a journey. A peacock crying on the left means that something is going to be stolen. If a donkey brays with a broken voice, that is a good omen and something good will happen. If a boar or a buffalo crosses over from the left to right, that is a good omen. But if they cross over from the right to the left, that is a bad omen. One’s desire will be attained if horses, tighers, lions, cats or donekys cross over from the right to the left. Jackals, moles, lizards, pigs and cuckoos are good omens on the left and monkeys are good omens on the right. If a jackal calls once, twice, thrice or four times, that is a good omen. It is a bad omen if a jackal calls five or six times. It is a very good omen if a jackal calls seven times.

And, few others indicating certain future events are as follows:

If crows caw on the left of an army, the soldiers will not be able to win. If a crow can be seen near the door of a house, this means that there will soon be a guest. A crow looking at the sun with one signifies great danger. A crow covered with mud means the attainment of one’s desires. A dog barking inside the house leads to the death of the householders. A person whose left limbs are sniffed by a dog, will attain riches. If the right limbs are sniffed, there will be danger. A dog blocking one’s path signifies theft. A dog with a bone or a rope in its mouth means the loss of property. But it is a good omen to see a dog with meat in its mouth.