Shloka 93

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

Devanagari script

।। तस्मिंस्तथा वर्तमाने रक्षांसि पुरुषर्षभ

Transliteration

tasmiṃs tathā vartamāne rakṣāṃsi puruṣarṣabha

Translation

三阇耶说道：当事态正如此发展之时，哦，人中雄牛，那些罗刹（夜行之众）也开始活动——在这夜里的暴行中，更添一层不祥。

Word by Word

• तस्मिन्: in that (situation/place/time)
• तस्मिन्: Adhikarana
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Locative, Singular

• तथा: thus, in that manner
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा

• वर्तमाने: while (it/he) was happening/going on
• वर्तमाने: Adhikarana
• Type: Verb
• Root: वृत्
• Form: Present active participle (शतृ), Masculine/Neuter, Locative, Singular

• रक्षांसि: the Rakshasas/demons
• रक्षांसि: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: रक्षस्
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Plural

• पुरुषर्षभ: O bull among men (best of men)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पुरुषर्षभ
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• rākṣasas

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse signals how, when violence and disorder prevail—especially in the moral darkness of night—inauspicious and destructive forces are said to gain scope. It frames the episode as ethically degraded, not merely militarily strategic.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya marks a transition: as events continue in the described manner, rākṣasas are mentioned as becoming present/active, heightening the ominous atmosphere around the nocturnal actions central to the Sauptika Parva.