Shloka 139

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

Devanagari script

मेदोमज्जास्थिरक्तानां वसानां च भशाशिता: । परमांसानि खादन्त: क्रव्यादा मांसजीविन:,मेदा, मज्जा, हड्डी, रक्त और चर्बीका विशेष आहार करनेवाले मांसजीवी राक्षस एवं हिंसक जन्तु दूसरोंके मांस खा रहे थे

Transliteration

medomajjāsthiraktānāṁ vasānāṁ ca bhakṣaśitāḥ | paramāṁsāni khādantaḥ kravyādā māṁsajīvinaḥ ||

Translation

Sañjaya berkata: Hantu pemakan daging dan binatang buas—pemakan lemak, sumsum, tulang, darah dan minyak—sedang melahap bahagian-bahagian terbaik daripada daging manusia.

Word by Word

मेदोमज्जास्थिरक्तानाम्of fat, marrow, bone, and blood

वसानाम्of (animal) fat/grease

चand

भक्षाशिताःaccustomed to eating / having eaten as food

परमांसानिothers' flesh

खादन्तःeating, devouring

क्रव्यादाःflesh-eaters, carnivores

मांसजीविनःliving on flesh

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

kravyādāḥ (flesh-eaters: rākṣasas/ghouls and predatory creatures)

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 highlights the ethical consequence of unchecked violence: when human conduct falls into adharma, the dead are dishonored and the battlefield becomes a domain for predation, symbolizing moral and social breakdown.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes the gruesome aftermath of nocturnal slaughter: flesh-eating beings and savage animals are consuming fat, marrow, bones, blood, and the choicest flesh of the fallen.