11.27 Heads crushed to powder Arjuna speaks
वक्त्राणि ते त्वरमाणा विशन्ति दंष्ट्राकरालानि भयानकानि
केचिद्विलग्ना दशनान्तरेषु संदृश्यन्ते चूर्णितैरुत्तमाङ्गैः
vaktrāṇi te tvaramāṇā viśanti daṁṣṭrā-karālāni bhayānakāni kecid vilagnā daśanāntareṣu sandṛśyante cūrṇitair uttamāṅgaiḥ
rush into your mouths, terrible with their teeth and dreadful to see. Some hang caught between your teeth, their heads crushed to powder.
Explanation
Heads crushed to powder.
Some hang caught between the teeth. The detail is specific and it is not metaphorical.
Whatever comfort the Gita offers about death, this chapter refuses to reach for it here. What Arjuna is shown is his family being chewed, and no gloss is offered.
Word by word
- vaktrāṇi
- mouths
- te
- Your
- tvaramāṇāḥ
- fearful
- viśanti
- entering
- daṁṣṭrā
- teeth
- karālāni
- terrible
- bhayānakāni
- very fearful
- kecit
- some of them
- vilagnāḥ
- being attacked
- daśanāntareṣu
- between the teeth
- sandṛśyante
- being seen
- cūrṇitaiḥ
- smashed
- uttama-aṅgaiḥ
- by the head
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