Shloka 140

Devanagari script

वसाश्रैवापरे पीत्वा पर्यधावन्‌ विकुक्षिका: । नानावक्त्रास्तथा रौद्रा: क्रव्यादा: पिशिताशना:,दूसरे कुक्षिरहित राक्षस चर्बियोंका पान करके चारों ओर दौड़ लगा रहे थे। कच्चा मांस खानेवाले उन भयंकर राक्षसोंके अनेक मुख थे

Transliteration

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

Translation

Sañjaya said: Others—those misshapen, pot-bellied ghouls—drank fat and then ran about in all directions. Fierce and terrifying, with many mouths, they fed on raw flesh.

Word by Word

वसाfat (grease)

चand

एवindeed/just

अपरेothers

पीत्वाhaving drunk

पर्यधावन्ran about

विकुक्षिकाःpot-bellied/with deformed bellies (demons)

नाना-वक्त्राःhaving many faces/mouths

तथाthus/also

रौद्राःterrible/fierce

क्रव्यादाःflesh-eaters

पिशिताशनाःraw-meat eaters

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

vikuṣikāḥ (ghoulish beings/rākṣasa-like flesh-eaters)

vasā (fat/grease)

piśita (flesh/meat)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

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.