Shloka 8
आयोधनदर्शनम्
Viewing the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra
रक्षसां पुरुषादानां मोदनं कुरराकुलम् । अशिवाभि: शिवाभिश्च नादितं गृभ्रसेवितम्
rakṣasāṃ puruṣādānāṃ modanaṃ kurarākulam | aśivābhiḥ śivābhiś ca nāditaṃ gṛdhrasevitam ||
Vaiśaṃpāyana berkata: “Itu ialah tempat kesukaan para rākṣasa pemakan manusia, dipenuhi jerit burung kurarī; ia bergema dengan bunyi-bunyi sial dan pertanda buruk, dan sering didatangi burung hering.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the moral horror of war’s aftermath: when dharma collapses into mass violence, the landscape becomes fit for scavengers and predatory beings, marked by ominous signs—an ethical reminder of the human cost of adharma and slaughter.
Vaiśaṃpāyana describes a grim scene in the wake of the Kurukṣetra carnage: a desolate, ill-omened place filled with harsh bird-cries and vultures, imagined as a haunt and delight of man-eating rākṣasas.