Shloka 39
Aśvatthāmā’s Stuti of Rudra and Śiva’s Empowerment (सौप्तिकपर्व, अध्याय ७)
विकटा: काललम्बोष्ठा बृहच्छेफाण्डपिण्डिका: । महार्हनानामुकुटा मुण्डाश्व जटिला: परे
vikaṭāḥ kālalambōṣṭhā bṛhacchephāṇḍapiṇḍikāḥ | mahārghanānāmukuṭā muṇḍāś ca jaṭilāḥ pare ||
Sanjaya said: “Some of those beings appeared utterly grotesque—some with dark, long, hanging lips; some with oversized genitals and swollen testicles. Some wore many kinds of costly crowns upon their heads, while others were clean-shaven, and yet others were matted-haired ascetics in appearance.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores how adharma-driven violence, especially in the night-raid context of the Sauptika Parva, is accompanied by fearsome, unsettling imagery—suggesting moral disorder and the psychological/spiritual darkness that surrounds cruelty.
Sanjaya is describing the frightening, varied appearances of beings seen in the aftermath/atmosphere of the nocturnal slaughter—some grotesque, some crowned, some shaven, some matted-haired—heightening the sense of ominous terror around the event.