Shloka 45

Devanagari script

एतान्यादित्यवर्णानि तपनीयनिभानि च । रोषरोदनताम्राणि वक्त्राणि कुरुयोषिताम्‌

Transliteration

etāny ādityavarṇāni tapanīyanibhāni ca | roṣarodanatāmrāṇi vaktrāṇi kuruyoṣitām ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana said: “These faces of the Kuru women—radiant like the sun, gleaming like gold—had turned copper-red from anger and from weeping.”

Word by Word

एतानिthese

आदित्यवर्णानिsun-colored, having the hue of the sun

तपनीयनिभानिlike gold (resembling refined gold)

चand

रोषरोदनताम्राणिreddened (coppery) due to anger and weeping

वक्त्राणिfaces

कुरुयोषिताम्of the Kuru women

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Kuru women

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 highlights the moral and human cost of war: even those once described with radiant, auspicious beauty are transformed by grief and anger. It underscores how adharma-driven conflict leaves lasting emotional devastation, especially upon women and families.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Strī Parva’s mourning scenes after the Kurukṣetra war, the narrator describes the Kuru women. Their faces, formerly radiant and golden, are now reddened and altered by tears and wrath as they grieve the slain.