Shloka 139

Sauptika Parva, Adhyaya 8 — Dhṛṣṭadyumna-vadha and the Camp’s Nocturnal Rout

Devanagari script

मेदोमज्जास्थिरक्तानां वसानां च भशाशिता: । परमांसानि खादन्त: क्रव्यादा मांसजीविन:,मेदा, मज्जा, हड्डी, रक्त और चर्बीका विशेष आहार करनेवाले मांसजीवी राक्षस एवं हिंसक जन्तु दूसरोंके मांस खा रहे थे

Transliteration

medomajjāsthiraktānāṁ vasānāṁ ca bhakṣaśitāḥ | paramāṁsāni khādantaḥ kravyādā māṁsajīvinaḥ ||

Translation

سنجے نے کہا—چربی، گودا، ہڈیاں، خون اور روغن کے خوراکی، گوشت پر جینے والے کرَویاد راکشس اور درندے انسان کے بہترین گوشت کے حصّے نوچ نوچ کر کھا رہے تھے۔

Word by Word

मेदोमज्जास्थिरक्तानाम्of fat, marrow, bone, and blood

वसानाम्of (animal) fat/grease

चand

भक्षाशिताःaccustomed to eating / having eaten as food

परमांसानिothers' flesh

खादन्तःeating, devouring

क्रव्यादाःflesh-eaters, carnivores

मांसजीविनःliving on flesh

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

kravyādāḥ (flesh-eaters: rākṣasas/ghouls and predatory creatures)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the ethical consequence of unchecked violence: when human conduct falls into adharma, the dead are dishonored and the battlefield becomes a domain for predation, symbolizing moral and social breakdown.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes the gruesome aftermath of nocturnal slaughter: flesh-eating beings and savage animals are consuming fat, marrow, bones, blood, and the choicest flesh of the fallen.