महामुसलसम्पातपिष्टकष्टोद्धुरस्वरः । तरच्छूरशिरःपद्मप्रकाराच्छादिताम्बरः ॥ १८ ॥
mahāmusalasampātapiṣṭakaṣṭōddhurasvaraḥ | taracchūraśiraḥpadmaprakārācchāditāmbaraḥ || 18 ||
Translation
loud with the cries of pain of those crushed by the fall of great pestles; the sky covered with a wall of lotuses that were heroes' flying heads;
Word by word
- mahā
- great
- musala
- of pestles
- sampāta
- by the fall
- piṣṭa
- of those crushed
- kaṣṭa
- of pain
- uddhura
- loud
- svaraḥ
- with the cries
- tarac
- (tarat) flying
- chūra
- (śūra) heroes'
- śiraḥ
- heads
- padma
- lotuses
- prakāra
- with a wall
- ācchādita
- covered
- ambaraḥ
- the sky
Meaning
The musala, a heavy iron-bound club like a rice-pestle, crushes those it falls on. The heads struck off fly up so thickly that they hang in the sky like a wall of lotuses: the lotus is the poet's usual image for a face.