Shloka 136
Sauptika Parva, Adhyaya 8 — Dhṛṣṭadyumna-vadha and the Camp’s Nocturnal Rout
पश्चादड्गुलयो रूक्षा विरूपा भैरवस्वना: । घण्टाजालावसक्ताश्ष नीलकण्ठा विभीषणा:
paścād aṅgulayo rūkṣā virūpā bhairavasvanāḥ | ghaṇṭājālāvasaktāś ca nīlakaṇṭhā vibhīṣaṇāḥ ||
सञ्जय उवाच—ततोऽपरं रूक्षाङ्गुलयो विरूपा भैरवस्वनाḥ प्रादृश्यन्त; घण्टाजालावसक्ताः नीलकण्ठा विभीषणाश्च।
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores that acts of violence carried out in a lawless, nightmarish manner are accompanied by ominous, dehumanizing signs; the external terror reflects an ethical disorder where restraint and dharma have been abandoned.
In Sañjaya’s report, frightening, misshapen, bell-adorned, blue-throated beings with dreadful cries appear as part of the eerie atmosphere surrounding the events of the Sauptika episode, intensifying the sense of horror and foreboding.