Shloka 20
Aśvatthāmā’s Stuti of Rudra and Śiva’s Empowerment (सौप्तिकपर्व, अध्याय ७)
हरिवक्त्रा: क्रौड्चमुखा: कपोतेभमुखास्तथा । पारावतमुखाश्वैव मद्गुवक्त्रास्तथैव च,इसी प्रकार बहुत-से गण कछुए, नाकें, सूँस, बड़े-बड़े मगर, तिमि नामक मत्स्य, मोर, क्रौंच (कुरर), कबूतर, हाथी, परेवा तथा मदगु नामक जलपक्षीके समान मुखवाले थे
harivaktrāḥ krauñcamukhāḥ kapotebhamukhās tathā | pārāvatamukhāś caiva madguvaktrās tathaiva ca ||
Sañjaya said: “Some of those bands had faces like lions; some like krauñca-birds; some like pigeons and elephants; others like doves; and still others like the madgu water-bird.” In the grim aftermath of war, the narration underscores the uncanny, many-formed appearance of the night-roaming hosts—an image that heightens the moral darkness of the slaughter to come and the sense of a world thrown out of balance by adharma.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse contributes to the ethical atmosphere of the Sauptika episode: the many-formed, animal-faced hosts symbolize the unsettling, disorderly forces unleashed when warfare slips into nocturnal massacre. The imagery reinforces that adharma distorts the world’s moral order and invites fearful consequences.
Sañjaya is describing the strange bands accompanying the night-time events of the Sauptika Parva. He lists the varied animal-like faces of these beings, intensifying the ominous tone surrounding the impending nocturnal slaughter in the camp.