Shloka 18
Svargārohaṇa-parva Adhyāya 2 — Yudhiṣṭhira’s Inquiry for His Kin and the Vision of a Punitive Realm
दंशोत्पातकभल्लूकमक्षिकामशकावृतम् । इतश्रेतश्व कुणपै: समन्तात् परिवारितम्,उस रास्तेपर डाँस, मच्छर, मक्खी, उत्पाती जीवजन्तु और भालू आदि फैले हुए थे। इधर-उधर सब ओर सड़े मुर्दे पड़े हुए थे
daṁśotpātakabhallūkam akṣikāmaśakāvṛtam | itaś cetaś ca kuṇapaiḥ samantāt parivāritam ||
Vaiśampāyana said: The path was covered with gadflies and other stinging pests, with ominous creatures and bears; it was swarmed by flies and mosquitoes. Here and there, on every side, it was hemmed in by rotting corpses—an image of the moral wreckage left by violence, confronting the travelers with the grim aftermath of adharma and the impermanence of embodied life.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse forces a confrontation with the consequences of violence and the fragility of the body: worldly glory ends in decay, and ethical reflection (dharma-vicāra) must account for the suffering and ruin that adharma leaves behind.
Vaiśampāyana describes a dreadful stretch of the journey: the road is swarming with biting insects and ominous creatures, and it is surrounded everywhere by decomposing corpses, creating a scene of horror and moral warning.