Shloka 31
Aśvatthāmā’s Stuti of Rudra and Śiva’s Empowerment (सौप्तिकपर्व, अध्याय ७)
महासर्पाज्गभिदधराश्षित्राभरणधारिण: । रजोध्वस्ता: पड्कदिग्धा: सर्वे शुक्लाम्बरस्रज:
mahāsarpājgabhidadharāś citrābharaṇadhāriṇaḥ | rajodhvastāḥ paṅkadigdhāḥ sarve śuklāmbara-srajaḥ ||
Sinabi ni Sañjaya: “Lahat sila’y may suot na kapansin-pansing mga palamuti at mga kuwintas ng bulaklak sa ibabaw ng puting kasuotan; ngunit nababalutan ng alikabok at nadudungisan ng putik—gaya ng malalaking ahas na may maningning na talukbong. Ipinahihiwatig ng tanawing ito na matapos ang karahasan, ang panlabas na tanda ng ranggo at karangyaan ay natatabunan ng dumi ng pagdurusa at ng pagkalito ng budhi na sumusunod sa pagpatay.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse contrasts external signs of nobility—white garments, garlands, ornaments—with the dust and mud of devastation, suggesting that violence reduces all to a common condition and that outward splendor cannot shield one from the ethical and human consequences of war.
Sañjaya describes a group (warriors/men in the scene) whose appearance is simultaneously adorned and defiled: they still bear ornaments and garlands on white clothing, but are coated with dust and mud, evoking a vivid, unsettling image of the post-slaughter environment.