Shloka 18

Aśvatthāmā’s Stuti of Rudra and Śiva’s Empowerment (सौप्तिकपर्व, अध्याय ७)

Devanagari script

महाजगरवक्त्राश्व हंसवक्त्रा: सितप्रभा: । दार्वाघाटमुखाश्नलापि चाषवक्त्राश्न भारत

Transliteration

mahājagaravaktrāśva-haṃsavaktrāḥ sitaprabhāḥ | dārvāghāṭamukhāś caiva cāṣavaktrāś ca bhārata ||

Translation

ਸੰਜਯ ਨੇ ਆਖਿਆ—ਹੇ ਭਾਰਤ! ਕਈਆਂ ਦੇ ਮੂੰਹ ਮਹਾਂ ਅਜਗਰ ਵਰਗੇ, ਕਈਆਂ ਦੇ ਘੋੜੇ ਅਤੇ ਹੰਸ ਵਰਗੇ ਸਨ; ਉਹ ਫਿੱਕੀ ਚਿੱਟੀ ਪ੍ਰਭਾ ਨਾਲ ਚਮਕ ਰਹੇ ਸਨ। ਕਈਆਂ ਦੇ ਮੂੰਹ ਦਾਰਵਾਘਾਟ ਪੰਛੀ ਵਰਗੇ, ਅਤੇ ਕਈਆਂ ਦੇ ਚਾਸ਼ ਪੰਛੀ ਵਰਗੇ ਸਨ।

Word by Word

• महाजगरवक्त्राश्वहंसवक्त्राः: those whose faces were like great pythons, horses, and swans
• महाजगरवक्त्राश्वहंसवक्त्राः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: महाजगर-वक्त्र-अश्व-हंस-वक्त्र (प्रातिपदिकसमूहः)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• सितप्रभाः: white-lustrous, of pale radiance
• सितप्रभाः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सितप्रभा (प्रातिपदिकम्)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• दार्वाघाटमुखाः: those having mouths like (the bird) dārvāghāṭa
• दार्वाघाटमुखाः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: दार्वाघाट-मुख (प्रातिपदिकम्)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• उलूकापि: and (some) owls (i.e., owl-faced ones implied)
• उलूकापि: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: उलूका (प्रातिपदिकम्) + अपि (अव्ययम्)
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Plural

• चाषवक्त्राः: those having faces like chāṣa-birds
• चाषवक्त्राः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: चाष-वक्त्र (प्रातिपदिकम्)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• भारत: O Bhārata
• भारत: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: भारत (प्रातिपदिकम्)
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sanjaya
• Dhritarashtra (addressed as Bhārata)
• gaṇāḥ (hosts of beings, implied)
• mahājagara (great python)
• aśva (horse)
• haṃsa (swan)
• dārvāghāṭa (bird, as a mouth/face comparison)
• cāṣa (bird, as a mouth/face comparison)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse contributes to the ethical framing of the Sauptika episode: when killing is done deceitfully at night against sleeping foes, the narrative surrounds it with ominous, dehumanizing imagery. The ‘monstrous’ forms mirror a moral distortion—violence unmoored from dharma appears as something uncanny and bestial.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sanjaya is reporting to Dhṛtarāṣṭra the dreadful sights associated with the nocturnal slaughter in the Pandava camp. He describes hosts of beings with animal-like faces—pythons, horses, swans, and various birds—intensifying the atmosphere of terror and foreboding around the night-raid.