Shloka 35

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

Devanagari script

मत्ता इव महानागा विनदन्तो मुहुर्मुहु: । सुभीमा घोररूपाश्न शूलपट्टिशपाणय:,वे मतवाले गजराजोंके समान बारंबार गर्जना करते थे। उनके हाथोंमें शूल और पट्टिश दिखायी देते थे। वे घोर रूपधारी और भयंकर थे

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca | mattā iva mahānāgā vinadanto muhur muhuḥ | subhīmā ghorarūpāś ca śūla-paṭṭiśa-pāṇayaḥ ||

Translation

三阇耶说道：“他们一再咆哮，如同醉狂的巨象。形貌可怖，面目狰狞，手执长矛与战斧。”在《睡杀篇》的语境中，这一意象加深了夜袭的道德阴影：袭击者被描绘成骇人而失控的力量，凸显克制的崩塌与战争中adharma（非正法）的滋长。

Word by Word

मत्ताःintoxicated, frenzied

इवlike, as if

महानागाःgreat elephants

विनदन्तःroaring, bellowing

मुहुःagain and again

मुहुःrepeatedly

सुभीमाःvery terrible

घोररूपाःof dreadful form

शूलपट्टिशपाणयःhaving spears and axes in their hands

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

mahānāga (elephants, as simile)

śūla (spear)

paṭṭiśa (battle-axe)

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 underscores how, when restraint and dharma collapse in wartime, humans can become like maddened forces of nature—loud, terrifying, and weapon-driven. In Sauptika Parva, such descriptions implicitly critique the moral degradation surrounding the nocturnal slaughter.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes the attackers (or warriors in the night scene) as repeatedly roaring like intoxicated elephants, dreadful in appearance, and armed with spears and battle-axes—building an atmosphere of terror and impending violence.