Shloka 15
Aśvatthāmā’s Stuti of Rudra and Śiva’s Empowerment (सौप्तिकपर्व, अध्याय ७)
दीप्तास्यनयनाश्षात्र नैकपादशिरोभुजा: । रत्नचित्राज्भदधरा: समुद्यतकरास्तथा
dīptāsyanayanāḥ śastrā naika-pāda-śiro-bhujāḥ | ratna-citrāmbara-dharāḥ samudyata-karās tathā ||
Sañjaya said: “They appeared with blazing faces and eyes, armed with weapons—some with many feet, heads, and arms—wearing garments adorned with jewels, and with their hands raised as if ready to strike.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how adharma-driven violence breeds terror and a sense of demonic disorder: when ethical restraint collapses, the world is experienced as hostile and uncanny, reflecting the moral darkness of the act about to unfold.
Sañjaya describes frightening, supernatural-looking figures—radiant-eyed, weapon-bearing, multi-limbed—appearing in the night. This functions as an ominous atmosphere-setting for the Sauptika episode, where stealthy killing and panic dominate the scene.