Shloka 20
Svargārohaṇa-parva Adhyāya 2 — Yudhiṣṭhira’s Inquiry for His Kin and the Vision of a Punitive Realm
अयोमुखैश्न काकाद्यर्गुप्रैश्ष समभिद्रुतम् । सूचीमुखैस्तथा प्रेतैर्विन्ध्यशैलोपमैर्वृतम्
ayomukhaiś ca kākādyair gṛdhraiś ca samabhidrutam | sūcīmukhaiś tathā pretair vindhya-śailopamaiḥ vṛtam ||
Vaiśampāyana said: That place was swarmed by iron-beaked birds—crows and the like, and vultures. It was also surrounded by spirits with needle-like, piercing mouths, huge as the Vindhya mountains, roaming on every side—an image of the grim consequences that follow violence and moral collapse.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses terrifying imagery—predatory birds and monstrous pretas—to underscore moral causality: actions, especially those rooted in cruelty and adharma, lead to dreadful experiential consequences, even when one is otherwise connected to a grand epic destiny.
Vaiśampāyana describes a horrific region encountered in the Svargarohana narrative: it is crowded with iron-beaked birds (crows, vultures) and surrounded by enormous, needle-mouthed spirits likened to the Vindhya mountains, creating an atmosphere of torment and dread.