Kārttikeya-Abhiṣecana: Mātṛgaṇa-Nāma Saṃkīrtana and Skanda’s Commission
पारावतमुखाश्चान्ये तथा वृषमुखा: परे । कोकिलाभाननाश्षान्ये श्येनतित्तिरिकानना:,कुछ पार्षदोंके मुख कबूतर, बैल, कोयल, बाज और तीतरोंके समान थे
pārāvatamukhāścānye tathā vṛṣamukhāḥ pare | kokilābhānanāś cānye śyenatittirikānanāḥ ||
毗舍摩波耶那说道:“在那些随从之中,有的面貌如鸽,有的如公牛;有的面貌似杜鹃,有的则如鹰与鹧鸪。”此乃描绘一支奇异、宛若来自异界的侍从之列,皆以兽禽杂相为记。
वैशम्पायन उवाच
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.
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.