Mahabharata — Shalya Parva, Shloka 81
Kārttikeya-Abhiṣecana: Mātṛgaṇa-Nāma Saṃkīrtana and Skanda’s Commission
नकुलोलूकवकत्राश्न काकवक्त्रास्तथा परे | आखुबश्रुकवक्त्राश्चन मयूरवदनास्तथा
nakulolūkavaktrāś ca kākavaktrās tathā pare | ākhubabhruvaktrāś ca mayūravadanās tathā ||
Vaiśampāyana dit : «Les uns avaient des visages de mangouste et de hibou ; d’autres, des visages de corbeau. Certains portaient des faces de rat et d’ichneumon ; et certains, des visages de paon.» Dans l’effroyable vision du champ de bataille, le narrateur accentue l’horreur déshumanisante de la guerre en figurant les combattants comme marqués de traits animaux—image qui dit l’effondrement moral et la terreur entourant le carnage.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse conveys the moral and psychological degradation that accompanies mass violence: when dharma collapses in war, human beings appear—literally in the poet’s imagery—stripped of humane identity, as if reduced to fearful, predatory, or ominous animal forms.
Vaiśampāyana continues a grim description of the battlefield scene, depicting warriors (or figures seen amid the carnage) as having animal-like faces—mongoose, owl, crow, rat, and peacock—intensifying the sense of terror, unnaturalness, and ominous atmosphere surrounding the conflict.