Shloka 140
Sauptika Parva, Adhyaya 8 — Dhṛṣṭadyumna-vadha and the Camp’s Nocturnal Rout
वसाश्रैवापरे पीत्वा पर्यधावन् विकुक्षिका: । नानावक्त्रास्तथा रौद्रा: क्रव्यादा: पिशिताशना:,दूसरे कुक्षिरहित राक्षस चर्बियोंका पान करके चारों ओर दौड़ लगा रहे थे। कच्चा मांस खानेवाले उन भयंकर राक्षसोंके अनेक मुख थे
vasāś caivāpare pītvā paryadhāvan vikuṣikāḥ | nānāvaktrās tathā raudrāḥ kravyādāḥ piśitāśanāḥ ||
Sañjaya said: Others—those misshapen, pot-bellied ghouls—drank fat and then ran about in all directions. Fierce and terrifying, with many mouths, they fed on raw flesh, embodying the moral collapse and horror that follows slaughter in the night.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the ethical degradation that accompanies adharma in war: when killing becomes indiscriminate—especially in a nocturnal slaughter—the aftermath is depicted as a realm of ghoulish consumption, symbolizing the loss of human restraint and the karmic darkness surrounding such acts.
Sañjaya describes terrifying flesh-eating beings at the scene: some drink fat and run about wildly, many-mouthed and fierce, feeding on raw flesh amid the carnage of the night.