Mahabharata — Shalya Parva, Shloka 87
Kārttikeya-Abhiṣecana: Mātṛgaṇa-Nāma Saṃkīrtana and Skanda’s Commission
आशीविषाश्षीरधरा गोनासावदनास्तथा । स्थूलोदरा: कृशाज्श्च स्थूलाड्राश्न कृुशोदरा:
āśīviṣāḥ śīradharā gonāsā-vadanās tathā | sthūlodarāḥ kṛśāś ca sthūlā dīrghāś ca kṛśodarāḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “There were venomous serpents with raised hoods, and others with faces like the gonāsa (a kind of viper). Some were thick-bellied, some lean; some were massive and long, while others were slender-bellied.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse does not state a direct moral injunction; its ethical force is indirect. By invoking many terrifying kinds of serpents, it intensifies the atmosphere of peril and suggests how violence and hostility breed an environment where danger multiplies in countless forms.
Vaiśampāyana describes the presence/appearance of numerous varieties of poisonous snakes—hooded, viper-faced, large, long, or lean—using vivid cataloguing to convey dread and the ominous tone surrounding events in the Shalya Parva.