Shloka 38

Devanagari script

चूडाला: कर्णिकाराश्र प्रह्ष्टा: पिठरोदरा: । अतिहस्वातिदीर्घाक्ष प्रलम्बाश्वातिभैरवा:,कितनोंके मस्तकपर शिखाएँ थीं। कितने ही कनेरके फूल धारण करते थे। बहुतेरे पार्षद अत्यन्त हर्षसे खिल उठे थे। कितनोंके पेट बटलोई या कड़ाहीके समान जान पड़ते थे। कोई बहुत नाटे, कोई बहुत मोटे, कोई बहुत लंबे और कोई अत्यन्त भयंकर थे

Transliteration

cūḍālāḥ karṇikārāś ca prahṛṣṭāḥ piṭharodarāḥ | atihasvātidīrghākṣāḥ pralambāś cātibhairavāḥ ||

Translation

三阇耶说道：“有的头顶结髻；有的佩戴迦尼迦罗树之花。许多侍从欢腾不已，面容因凶烈的喜悦而发亮。有的腹大如罐如釜。有的极矮，有的怪异而硕大，有的高耸，有的形貌骇人至极。”

Word by Word

चूडालाःhaving topknots/crests (women/spirits with chūḍā)

कर्णिकाराःbearing karnikāra flowers / karnikāra-trees (as adornment)

प्रहृष्टाःexceedingly delighted / thrilled

पिठरोदराःhaving bellies like pots/cauldrons

अतिह्रस्वाःvery short (in stature)

अतिदीर्घाक्षाःhaving very long eyes

प्रलम्बाःpendulous/long-limbed; hanging down

अतिभैरवाःextremely terrifying

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

karṇikāra (flower/tree)

attendants/gaṇas (implied)

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 the moral atmosphere of the Sauptika episode: violence undertaken in the darkness of night is accompanied by imagery of the grotesque and the dreadful, suggesting a drift from dharma toward fear, excess, and adharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya narrates to Dhṛtarāṣṭra a vision-like description of fierce, strange attendants—varied in form, ornament, and size—whose terrifying appearance and exhilaration heighten the ominous mood surrounding the nocturnal events of the Sauptika Parva.