Shloka 85

Devanagari script

पारावतमुखाश्चान्ये तथा वृषमुखा: परे । कोकिलाभाननाश्षान्ये श्येनतित्तिरिकानना:,कुछ पार्षदोंके मुख कबूतर, बैल, कोयल, बाज और तीतरोंके समान थे

Transliteration

pārāvatamukhāścānye tathā vṛṣamukhāḥ pare | kokilābhānanāś cānye śyenatittirikānanāḥ ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana nói: “Trong đám tùy tùng ấy, có kẻ mang mặt như bồ câu; kẻ khác như bò đực. Có kẻ mang mặt như chim cu cu, và kẻ khác mang mặt như diều hâu và chim gà gô.” Đó là lời tả một đoàn tùy tùng kỳ dị, tựa đến từ cõi khác, mang những hình dạng pha trộn như loài vật.

Word by Word

पारावत-मुखाःhaving faces like pigeons/doves

चand

अन्येothers

तथाlikewise/so

वृष-मुखाःhaving faces like bulls

परेothers (on the other hand)

कोकिल-आभ-आननाःhaving faces resembling cuckoos

अन्येothers

श्येन-तित्तिरि-काननाःhaving faces like hawks and partridges

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

attendants/retinue (pārṣadāḥ implied)

pigeon (pārāvata)

bull (vṛṣa)

cuckoo (kokila)

hawk (śyena)

partridge (tittiri)

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 primarily serves a descriptive purpose: it highlights the uncanny, non-human features of a retinue, suggesting the presence of forces beyond ordinary human society. Ethically, such imagery in the epic often frames war and its surrounding events as occurring under vast cosmic and unseen influences, urging humility about human control.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana is describing a group of attendants (pārṣadas) whose faces resemble various animals and birds—pigeons, bulls, cuckoos, hawks, and partridges—emphasizing a strange, supernatural atmosphere around the events being narrated in the Shalya Parva.