Shloka 5
Gāndhārī’s Battlefield Survey: The Fallen and the Onset of Funeral Rites (शल्य-भगीरथ-भीष्म-द्रोणादि-दर्शनम्)
अस्य चामीकराभस्य तप्तकाञउ्चनसप्रभा । आस्याद् विनि:सूृता जिद्दा भक्ष्यते कृष्ण पक्षिभि:,श्रीकृष्ण! सुवर्णके समान कान्तिमान् शल्यके मुखसे तपाये हुए सोनेके समान कान्तिवाली जीभ बाहर निकल आयी है और पक्षी उसे नोच-नोचकर खा रहे हैं
asya cāmīkarābhasya tapta-kāñcana-saprabhā | āsyād viniḥsṛtā jihvā bhakṣyate kṛṣṇa-pakṣibhiḥ ||
ವೈಶಂಪಾಯನನು ಹೇಳಿದರು—ಚಿನ್ನದಂತೆ ಕಾಂತಿಯುಳ್ಳ ಈ ಮನುಷ್ಯನ ಬಾಯಿಂದ, ತಾಪಿಸಿದ ಶುದ್ಧ ಚಿನ್ನದಂತೆ ಪ್ರಕಾಶಿಸುವ ನಾಲಿಗೆ ಹೊರಬಂದಿದೆ; ಕಪ್ಪು ಪಕ್ಷಿಗಳು ಅದನ್ನು ಚುಚ್ಚಿ ಚುಚ್ಚಿ ಹರಿದು ತಿನ್ನುತ್ತಿವೆ।
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical weight of speech: harmful or unrighteous words can become the cause of one’s downfall, and the tongue—instrument of speech—symbolically bears the karmic consequence.
Vaiśampāyana describes a terrifying post-war vision: a gold-lustrous figure has his tongue protruding from his mouth, and dark birds are pecking and eating it—an image of punitive suffering tied to moral wrongdoing.