Mahabharata — Shalya Parva, Shloka 84
Kārttikeya-Abhiṣecana: Mātṛgaṇa-Nāma Saṃkīrtana and Skanda’s Commission
किन्हींके मुख हाथीके समान थे, इसलिये वे बड़े भयानक जान पड़ते थे। कुछ पार्षदोंके मुख मगर, गरुड़, कंक भेड़ियों और कौओंके समान जान पड़ते थे ।।
go-kharōṣṭra-mukhāś ca vānyē vṛṣa-daṁśa-mukhās tathā | mahā-jaṭhara-pādāṅgās tārakākṣāś ca bhārata ||
Vaishampayana said: “O Bharata, some of those attendants bore faces like cows, donkeys, camels, and wildcats; others had faces like bull-biting beasts. Many among them had enormous bellies, feet, and other limbs, and their eyes shone like stars.” The description underscores the terrifying, unnatural retinue surrounding the scene, heightening dread and the sense of ominous forces amid the war’s devastation.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses grotesque, animal-faced imagery to signal an ominous moral climate: when violence and disorder dominate, the world is portrayed as haunted by fearful, unnatural forces—an ethical warning about the consequences of adharma.
Vaiśampāyana describes a terrifying group of attendants with animal-like faces and exaggerated bodies, emphasizing the dread and portentous atmosphere surrounding the events in the war narrative.