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 ||
Sinabi ni Vaiśampāyana: “May ilan na ang mukha’y gaya ng monggós at kuwago; ang iba nama’y gaya ng uwak. May ilan na may mukhang gaya ng daga at ng ichneumon; at may ilan na may mukhang gaya ng pabo-real.” Sa nakapanghihilakbot na tanawin ng larangan ng digmaan, binibigyang-diin ng tagapagsalaysay ang pagkamapangwasak ng digmaan sa pagkatao, sa paglalarawang wari’y tinatakan ang mga mandirigma ng anyong-hayop—larawang nagpapakita ng pagbagsak ng dangal at ng sindak na bumabalot sa pagpatay.
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.