Shloka 109
Kārttikeya-Abhiṣecana: Mātṛgaṇa-Nāma Saṃkīrtana and Skanda’s Commission
पाशोद्यतकरा: केचिद् व्यादितास्या: खरानना: | पृष्ठाक्षा नीलकण्ठाश्न तथा परिघबाहव:,कुछ पार्षद हाथोंमें पाश लिये हुए थे, कोई मुँह बाये खड़े थे, किन्हींके मुख गदहोंके समान थे, कितनोंकी आँखें पृष्ठभागमें थीं और कितनोंके कण्ठोंमें नील रंगका चिह्न था। बहुत-से पार्षदोंकी भुजाएँ ही परिघके समान थीं
pāśodyatakarāḥ kecid vyāditāsyāḥ kharānanāḥ | pṛṣṭhākṣā nīlakaṇṭhāś ca tathā parighabāhavaḥ ||
वैशम्पायन उवाच— केचिद् उद्यतपाशकराः स्थिताः, केचिद् व्यादितास्याः। केचिद् खराननाः, केचिद् पृष्ठाक्षाः; केचिन्नीलकण्ठचिह्नाः, बहवश्च परिघबाहवः।
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse heightens the moral atmosphere of the war by portraying a terrifying, non-human retinue: when destruction is near, the world seems filled with forces of binding, punishment, and dread. It implicitly warns that violence is not merely physical but carries karmic and psychological consequences that overwhelm ordinary human control.
Vaiśampāyana describes a group of attendants (pārṣadas) with grotesque and fearsome features—nooses raised, gaping mouths, donkey-like faces, eyes on their backs, blue-marked throats, and club-like arms—suggesting an ominous, otherworldly presence accompanying the unfolding events of the battlefield.