Shloka 140

Sauptika Parva, Adhyaya 8 — Dhṛṣṭadyumna-vadha and the Camp’s Nocturnal Rout

Devanagari script

वसाश्रैवापरे पीत्वा पर्यधावन्‌ विकुक्षिका: । नानावक्त्रास्तथा रौद्रा: क्रव्यादा: पिशिताशना:

Transliteration

vasāś caivāpare pītvā paryadhāvan vikuṣikāḥ | nānāvaktrās tathā raudrāḥ kravyādāḥ piśitāśanāḥ ||

Translation

সঞ্জয়ে ক’লে—আন কিছুমান বিকৃত, কুক্ষিহীন ৰাক্ষসে চৰ্বি পান কৰি চাৰিওফালে দৌৰি ফুৰিছিল। তেওঁলোক বহু-মুখবিশিষ্ট, ৰৌদ্ৰ, ক্রব্যাদ আৰু কাঁচা মাংস ভক্ষণকাৰী আছিল।

Word by Word

• वसा: fat (grease)
• वसा: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: वसा
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• एव: indeed/just
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव

• अपरे: others
• अपरे: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: अपर
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• पीत्वा: having drunk
• Type: Verb
• Root: पा
• Form: क्त्वा (absolutive/gerund), Parasmaipada (usage-neutral here)

• पर्यधावन्: ran about
• Type: Verb
• Root: धाव्
• Form: Imperfect (Laṅ), 3rd, Plural, Parasmaipada

• विकुक्षिकाः: pot-bellied/with deformed bellies (demons)
• विकुक्षिकाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: विकुक्षिक
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• नाना-वक्त्राः: having many faces/mouths
• नाना-वक्त्राः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: नाना-वक्त्र
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• तथा: thus/also
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा

• रौद्राः: terrible/fierce
• रौद्राः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: रौद्र
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• क्रव्यादाः: flesh-eaters
• क्रव्यादाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: क्रव्याद
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• पिशिताशनाः: raw-meat eaters
• पिशिताशनाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: पिशिताशन
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• vikuṣikāḥ (ghoulish beings/rākṣasa-like flesh-eaters)
• vasā (fat/grease)
• piśita (flesh/meat)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores the ethical degradation that accompanies adharma in war: when killing becomes indiscriminate—especially in a nocturnal slaughter—the aftermath is depicted as a realm of ghoulish consumption, symbolizing the loss of human restraint and the karmic darkness surrounding such acts.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes terrifying flesh-eating beings at the scene: some drink fat and run about wildly, many-mouthed and fierce, feeding on raw flesh amid the carnage of the night.