Shloka 136

Sauptika Parva, Adhyaya 8 — Dhṛṣṭadyumna-vadha and the Camp’s Nocturnal Rout

Devanagari script

पश्चादड्गुलयो रूक्षा विरूपा भैरवस्वना: । घण्टाजालावसक्ताश्ष नीलकण्ठा विभीषणा:

Transliteration

paścād aṅgulayo rūkṣā virūpā bhairavasvanāḥ | ghaṇṭājālāvasaktāś ca nīlakaṇṭhā vibhīṣaṇāḥ ||

Translation

संजय म्हणाला—त्यानंतर रूक्ष बोटांचे, विद्रूप, भयंकर गर्जना करणारे जीव प्रकट झाले. घंटांच्या गुच्छांनी लटकलेले, निळ्या कंठाचे आणि पाहताच भय उत्पन्न करणारे असे ते होते.

Word by Word

पश्चात्afterwards, later

अङ्गुलयःfingers

रूक्षाःrough, harsh

विरूपाःmisshapen, ugly

भैरवस्वनाःhaving a terrifying sound/voice

घण्टाजालावसक्ताःhung/attached with clusters of bells

नीलकण्ठाःblue-throated

विभीषणाःterrifying, dreadful

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

clusters of bells (ghaṇṭājāla)

blue-throated fearsome beings (nīlakaṇṭhāḥ)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores that acts of violence carried out in a lawless, nightmarish manner are accompanied by ominous, dehumanizing signs; the external terror reflects an ethical disorder where restraint and dharma have been abandoned.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Sañjaya’s report, frightening, misshapen, bell-adorned, blue-throated beings with dreadful cries appear as part of the eerie atmosphere surrounding the events of the Sauptika episode, intensifying the sense of horror and foreboding.