Shloka 81
Kārttikeya-Abhiṣecana: Mātṛgaṇa-Nāma Saṃkīrtana and Skanda’s Commission
नकुलोलूकवकत्राश्न काकवक्त्रास्तथा परे | आखुबश्रुकवक्त्राश्चन मयूरवदनास्तथा,भारत! बहुतोंके मुख बिल्ली और खरगोशके समान थे। किन्हींके मुख बहुत बड़े थे और किन्हींके नेवले, उल्लू, कौए, चूहे, बश्वु तथा मयूरके मुखोंके समान थे
nakulolūkavaktrāś ca kākavaktrās tathā pare | ākhubabhruvaktrāś ca mayūravadanās tathā ||
वैशम्पायन उवाच—केषाञ्चिद् नकुलोलूकवक्त्राणि, केषाञ्चित् काकवक्त्राणि च। केषाञ्चिद् आखुवक्त्राणि, केषाञ्चिद् बभ्रुवक्त्राणि, केषाञ्चिद् मयूरवदनानि च, भारत।
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse conveys the moral and psychological degradation that accompanies mass violence: when dharma collapses in war, human beings appear—literally in the poet’s imagery—stripped of humane identity, as if reduced to fearful, predatory, or ominous animal forms.
Vaiśampāyana continues a grim description of the battlefield scene, depicting warriors (or figures seen amid the carnage) as having animal-like faces—mongoose, owl, crow, rat, and peacock—intensifying the sense of terror, unnaturalness, and ominous atmosphere surrounding the conflict.