Shloka 473
Aśvatthāmā’s Stuti of Rudra and Śiva’s Empowerment (सौप्तिकपर्व, अध्याय ७)
संत्रासयन्तस्ते विश्वमश्चत्थामानम भ्ययु: । भगवान् शिवके वे पार्षद नाना प्रकारके बाजे बजाने, हँसने, सिंहनाद करने, ललकारने तथा गर्जने आदिके द्वारा सम्पूर्ण विश्वको भयभीत करते हुए अभश्वत्थामाके पास आये
sañjaya uvāca | santrāsayantas te viśvam aśvatthāmānam abhyayuḥ | bhagavān śivake te pārṣadā nānāprakārakāni vādyāni vādya, hasya, siṃhanāda, lalakāra tathā garjana-ādibhiḥ samastaṃ viśvaṃ bhayabhītam kurvantaḥ aśvatthāmānaṃ prati samupāgaman |
Sanjaya said: Terrifying the whole world, those attendants of the blessed Lord Śiva advanced toward Aśvatthāmā. With many kinds of instruments, with laughter, lion-roars, challenges, and thunderous cries, they filled the quarters with dread as they came near him—an ominous sign that divine forces were now moving within the aftermath of human violence.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores how extreme violence invites terror and destabilization, and how divine or cosmic forces can appear as overwhelming, fear-inducing portents in the wake of adharma. It frames the aftermath of wrongdoing as not merely social but cosmic in its repercussions.
Sanjaya describes Śiva’s attendants advancing toward Aśvatthāmā, making frightening sounds—instrumental clamor, laughter, lion-roars, challenges, and thunderous cries—so that the world seems seized by fear. The scene signals a supernatural escalation around Aśvatthāmā’s actions in the Sauptika episode.