Shloka 21
Aśvatthāmā’s Stuti of Rudra and Śiva’s Empowerment (सौप्तिकपर्व, अध्याय ७)
किन्हींके हाथोंमें ही कान थे। कितने ही हजार-हजार नेत्र और लंबे पेटवाले थे। कितनोंके शरीर मांसरहित, हड्ियोंके ढाँचे मात्र थे। भरतनन्दन! कोई कौओंके समान मुखवाले थे तो कोई बाजके समान। राजन! किन्हीं-किन्हींके तो सिर ही नहीं थे। भारत! कोई-कोई भालूके समान मुखवाले थे। उन सबके नेत्र और जिह्लाएँ तेजसे प्रज्वलित हो रही थीं। अंगोंकी कान्ति आगकी ज्वालाके समान जान पड़ती थी
sañjaya uvāca | kecid hastagata-karṇā āsan | kecid bahu-sahasra-netrā dīrgha-udaraś ca | kecic charīrāṇi māṃsa-rahitāni kevalaṃ asthi-paṅjarāṇi | bharata-nandana, kecit kāka-mukhā iva kecid vāyasa-mukhā iva, kecid śyena-mukhā iva | rājan, kecid aśirasā eva | bhārata, kecid ṛkṣa-sadṛśa-mukhāḥ | teṣāṃ sarveṣāṃ netrāṇi jihvāś ca tejasā pradīptāni | aṅga-kāntiś ca vahni-jvālā-sadṛśī babhāsa |
Sanjaya said: Some of those apparitions had ears set upon their hands; some bore thousands upon thousands of eyes and distended bellies. Some were fleshless—mere frameworks of bone. O descendant of Bharata, some had faces like crows, others like hawks; O king, some were even headless. O Bharata, some had faces like bears. The eyes and tongues of them all blazed with fierce radiance, and the sheen of their limbs looked like tongues of fire. In the wake of the night’s slaughter, this vision underscores the moral horror of adharma-driven violence: when restraint collapses, the battlefield becomes a realm of monstrous omens and terror rather than righteous combat.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse conveys that when violence is pursued outside dharma—especially through deceit and night-slaughter—the moral order appears inverted, symbolized by grotesque, fiery beings. It warns that adharma breeds भय (terror), अशान्ति (unrest), and ominous consequences that haunt victors and victims alike.
Sanjaya reports to the king a terrifying sight in the aftermath of the Sauptika events: monstrous, unnatural figures with animal-like faces, skeletal bodies, and blazing eyes and tongues. The description heightens the atmosphere of dread surrounding the nocturnal killing and signals a world disturbed by grievous wrongdoing.