Shloka 6

बकवधोत्तर-प्रशमनम् | Post-slaying Stabilization after Baka’s Death

Devanagari script

कक ऑिक । | ५ ४2-- “+ हक 8 न ; | 3 ६ े दर जज ब्द्ध दर 3 <#्नड)/2)॥29क- [] ७.९ ५५०९५... (९! ५३ ऊर्ध्वाड्गुलि: स कण्डूयन्‌ धुन्वन्‌ रूक्षान्‌ शिरोरुहान्‌ जृम्भमाणो महावकत्र: पुन: पुनरवेक्ष्य च,तब अंगुलियोंको ऊपर उठाकर सिरके रूखे बालोंको खुजलाता और फटकारता हुआ वह विशाल मुखवाला राक्षस पाण्डवोंकी ओर बार-बार देखकर जँभाई लेने लगा

Transliteration

ūrdhvāṅgulīḥ sa kaṇḍūyan dhunvan rūkṣān śiroruhān | jṛmbhamāṇo mahāvaktraḥ punaḥ punar avekṣya ca ||

Translation

Er hob die Finger empor, kratzte und schüttelte das raue, trockene Haar auf seinem Kopf. Der großmäulige Rākṣasa gähnte und blickte immer wieder zu den Pāṇḍavas hinüber.

Word by Word

• {'ūrdhva-aṅgulīḥ': 'with fingers raised upward', 'saḥ': 'he', 'kaṇḍūyan': 'scratching, itching and scratching', 'dhunvan': 'shaking, flicking off, tossing about', 'rūkṣān': 'rough, dry, coarse', 'śiroruhān': 'hairs of the head', 'jṛmbhamāṇaḥ': 'yawning, stretching the mouth in a yawn', 'mahā-vaktraḥ': 'large-mouthed

• having a huge face/mouth', 'punaḥ punaḥ': 'again and again, repeatedly', 'avekṣya': 'having looked at

• looking toward', 'ca': 'and'}

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• rākṣasa (demon)
• Pāṇḍavas

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores how encounters with violence and predation test inner discipline: the Pāṇḍavas face a looming threat, and the ethical emphasis is on maintaining steadiness and dharmic judgment rather than reacting with panic or cruelty.

What is happening in the narrative?

A huge-mouthed rākṣasa, watching the Pāṇḍavas, scratches and shakes his coarse head-hair and repeatedly yawns while looking at them again and again—signaling his menacing attention and setting the scene for an impending confrontation.