Shloka 18

Aśvatthāmā’s Stuti of Rudra and Śiva’s Empowerment (सौप्तिकपर्व, अध्याय ७)

Devanagari script

महाजगरवक्त्राश्व हंसवक्त्रा: सितप्रभा: । दार्वाघाटमुखाश्नलापि चाषवक्त्राश्न भारत,उनके रूप कुत्ते, सूअर और ऊँटोंके समान थे; मुँह घोड़ों, गीदड़ों और गाय-बैलोंके समान जान पड़ते थे। किन्हींके मुख रीछोंके समान थे तो किन्हींके बिलावोंके समान। कोई बाघोंके समान मुँहवाले थे तो कोई चीतोंके। कितने ही गणोंके मुख कौओं, वानरों, तोतों, बड़े-बड़े अजगरों और हंसोंके समान थे। भारत! कितनोंकी कान्ति भी हंसोंके समान सफेद थी, कितने ही गणोंके मुख कठफोरवा पक्षी और नीलकण्ठके समान थे

Transliteration

mahājagaravaktrāśva-haṃsavaktrāḥ sitaprabhāḥ | dārvāghāṭamukhāś caiva cāṣavaktrāś ca bhārata ||

Translation

三阇耶说道：“噢，婆罗多啊，有的面如巨蟒、如骏马、如天鹅，周身放出淡白之辉；有的口如达尔瓦伽吒鸟；又有的口如叉沙鸟。”

Word by Word

• महाजगरवक्त्राश्वहंसवक्त्राः: those whose faces were like great pythons, horses, and swans
• महाजगरवक्त्राश्वहंसवक्त्राः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: महाजगर-वक्त्र-अश्व-हंस-वक्त्र (प्रातिपदिकसमूहः)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• सितप्रभाः: white-lustrous, of pale radiance
• सितप्रभाः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सितप्रभा (प्रातिपदिकम्)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• दार्वाघाटमुखाः: those having mouths like (the bird) dārvāghāṭa
• दार्वाघाटमुखाः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: दार्वाघाट-मुख (प्रातिपदिकम्)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• उलूकापि: and (some) owls (i.e., owl-faced ones implied)
• उलूकापि: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: उलूका (प्रातिपदिकम्) + अपि (अव्ययम्)
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Plural

• चाषवक्त्राः: those having faces like chāṣa-birds
• चाषवक्त्राः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: चाष-वक्त्र (प्रातिपदिकम्)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• भारत: O Bhārata
• भारत: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: भारत (प्रातिपदिकम्)
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sanjaya
• Dhritarashtra (addressed as Bhārata)
• gaṇāḥ (hosts of beings, implied)
• mahājagara (great python)
• aśva (horse)
• haṃsa (swan)
• dārvāghāṭa (bird, as a mouth/face comparison)
• cāṣa (bird, as a mouth/face comparison)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse contributes to the ethical framing of the Sauptika episode: when killing is done deceitfully at night against sleeping foes, the narrative surrounds it with ominous, dehumanizing imagery. The ‘monstrous’ forms mirror a moral distortion—violence unmoored from dharma appears as something uncanny and bestial.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sanjaya is reporting to Dhṛtarāṣṭra the dreadful sights associated with the nocturnal slaughter in the Pandava camp. He describes hosts of beings with animal-like faces—pythons, horses, swans, and various birds—intensifying the atmosphere of terror and foreboding around the night-raid.