Shloka 8

और्वोपाख्यानम्

Aurva Episode: Restoration of Sight and Restraint of World-Destructive Anger

Devanagari script

संध्या संरज्यते घोरा पूर्वरात्रागमेषु या । अशीतिभिललवैहींन तन्मुहुर्त प्रचक्षते,“रात्रि प्रारम्भ होनेके पहले जो पश्चिम दिशामें भयंकर संध्याकी लाली छा जाती है, उस समय अस्सी लवको छोड़कर सारा मुहूर्त इच्छानुसार विचरनेवाले यक्षों, गन्धर्वों तथा राक्षसोंके लिये निश्चित बताया जाता है। शेष दिनका सब समय मनुष्योंके कार्यवश विचरनेके लिये माना गया है

Transliteration

sandhyā saṃrajyate ghorā pūrvarātrāgameṣu yā | aśītibhir lavair hīnaṃ tanmuhūrtaṃ pracakṣate ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana disse: “Esse crepúsculo terrível—quando, pouco antes da chegada da noite, se espalha uma vermelhidão assustadora—assinala um intervalo determinado. Diz-se que esse muhūrta é um muhūrta completo menos oitenta lavas.”

Word by Word

संध्याtwilight

संरज्यतेbecomes reddened / is suffused with redness

घोराterrible, dreadful

पूर्वbefore, prior

रात्रिnight

आगमेषुat the arrivals/approaches

याwhich

अशीतिभिःby/with eighty

लवinstants (lava, a small unit of time)

विहीनम्devoid of, lacking

तत्that

मुहूर्तम्muhūrta (a time-period)

प्रचक्षतेthey declare, they state

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

sandhyā (evening twilight)

muhūrta

lava

rātri (night)

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 defines a liminal, potentially ominous twilight interval with precise time-measurement, reflecting the epic’s concern for ordered time (kāla) and the special character of transitional moments (sandhyā) in human and cosmic life.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana pauses the story to specify the exact duration and character of the fearful evening twilight just before nightfall, describing it as a muhūrta reduced by eighty lavas.