Shloka 28
Aśvatthāmā’s Stuti of Rudra and Śiva’s Empowerment (सौप्तिकपर्व, अध्याय ७)
कोई अपने मस्तकपर कमलों और कुमुदोंका किरीट धारण करते थे। बहुतोंने विशुद्ध मुकुट धारण कर रखा था। वे भूतगण सैकड़ों और हजारोंकी संख्यामें थे और सभी अद्भुत माहात्म्यसे सम्पन्न थे ।। शतघ्नीवज्रहस्ताश्व॒ तथा मुसलपाणय: । भुशुण्डीपाशहस्ताश्न दण्डहस्ताश्व॒ भारत,भारत! उनके हाथोंमें शतघ्नी, वज्र, मूसल, भुशुण्डी, पाश और दण्ड शोभा पाते थे
śataghnī-vajra-hastāś ca tathā musala-pāṇayaḥ | bhuśuṇḍī-pāśa-hastāś ca daṇḍa-hastāś ca bhārata ||
Sañjaya said: O Bhārata, those beings bore in their hands fearsome weapons—śataghnīs, thunderbolts, clubs, bhuśuṇḍīs, nooses, and staffs—each suited to destruction. Arrayed in hundreds and thousands, they appeared wondrous in power, embodying the terrifying momentum of war’s night, where violence multiplies beyond human measure and moral clarity is tested by dread and chaos.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores how, in the atmosphere of adharma-driven violence, destructive power proliferates and overwhelms discernment. The piling up of weapons symbolizes the escalation of cruelty and the ethical peril of letting wrath and vengeance govern action.
Sañjaya describes the terrifying armed host (often understood as fierce beings/attendants in the night scene of the Sauptika episode) appearing in great numbers, each carrying formidable weapons, intensifying the dread and chaos surrounding the nocturnal slaughter.