Shloka 6
Adhyāya 6: Śibira-dvāra-sthita Bhūta-varṇana and Aśvatthāmā’s Śaraṇāgati to Mahādeva
दंष्टाकरालवदनं व्यादितास्यं भयानकम् | नयनानां सहसैश्न विचित्रैरभिभूषितम्
sañjaya uvāca |
daṃṣṭā-karāla-vadanaṃ vyāditāsyaṃ bhayānakam |
nayanānāṃ sahasraiś ca vicitrair abhibhūṣitam ||
Sañjaya dit : «Il vit un être terrifiant : le visage rendu effroyable par des crocs saillants, la bouche béante, redoutable. Il était paré de milliers d’yeux merveilleux. La vision, à elle seule, semait l’épouvante, comme si un gardien du seuil s’était levé pour barrer le passage, incarnant l’atmosphère funeste de la violence de la nuit.»
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames the night’s events under an atmosphere of dread and moral inversion: the appearance of a fearsome, otherworldly figure functions as an omen that violence committed in darkness and rage draws forces of terror and retribution, warning that adharma breeds भय (fear) and spiritual peril.
Sañjaya describes what is seen at the threshold: a monstrous, fear-inducing being with a gaping, fang-filled mouth and thousands of strange eyes, standing as if to block entry—an ominous vision accompanying the Sauptika episode’s nocturnal violence.