Shloka 100
Kārttikeya-Abhiṣecana: Mātṛgaṇa-Nāma Saṃkīrtana and Skanda’s Commission
महादंष्टा: हस्वदंष्टा श्षतुर्दष्टास्तथा परे । वारणेन्द्रनिभाश्चान्ये भीमा राजन् सहस्रश:,किन्हींकी दाढ़ें बड़ी, किन्हींकी छोटी और किन्हींकी चार थीं। राजन्! दूसरे भी सहस्रों पार्षद गजराजके समान विशालकाय एवं भयंकर थे
mahādaṃṣṭrāḥ hrasvadaṃṣṭrāś caturdaṃṣṭrās tathā pare | vāraṇendranibhāś cānye bhīmā rājan sahasraśaḥ ||
Vaiśaṃpāyana said: Some had enormous tusks, some had short tusks, and others had four tusks. O King, thousands of other attendants too were terrifying—vast in body and formidable—like lordly elephants. The scene underscores the overwhelming, almost inhuman scale of the forces gathered, intensifying the moral weight of the war’s devastation.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses hyperbolic, fearsome imagery to convey the enormity of the forces present, implicitly reminding the listener that war magnifies terror and dehumanization; such descriptions heighten ethical reflection on the cost of conflict.
Vaiśaṃpāyana describes thousands of terrifying attendants—some with huge tusks, some with short tusks, and some with four tusks—comparing their massive, dreadful forms to great elephants.