Shloka 102
Kārttikeya-Abhiṣecana: Mātṛgaṇa-Nāma Saṃkīrtana and Skanda’s Commission
पृथुदंष्टा महादंष्टा: स्थूलौष्ठा हरिमूर्थजा: । नानापादौष्टदंष्टाश्न नानाहस्तशिरोधरा:
pṛthudaṃṣṭrā mahādaṃṣṭrāḥ sthūlauṣṭhā harimūrdhajāḥ | nānāpādauṣṭhadaṃṣṭrāś ca nānāhastāśirodharāḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “Some had broad fangs, others enormous fangs; some had thick lips and tawny or bluish hair upon their heads. Their feet, lips, teeth, hands, and necks were of many different kinds and in great variety—an unsettling catalogue of forms that underscores the chaotic, dehumanizing spectacle produced by war.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
By dwelling on distorted and varied bodily features, the verse intensifies the sense of moral and existential disorder caused by war, implicitly warning that violence erodes human dignity and reveals the impermanent, vulnerable nature of the body.
Vaiśampāyana continues a descriptive passage portraying terrifying, varied figures—marked by different teeth, lips, limbs, and necks—heightening the atmosphere of dread and chaos in the Shalya Parva’s war setting.