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

Raising his fingers upward, the great-mouthed rākṣasa scratched and shook out the rough hair on his head. Yawning, he kept looking again and again toward the Pāṇḍavas.

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.