Shloka 101

Varuṇābhiṣeka–Agni-anveṣaṇa–Kaubera-tīrtha

Varuṇa’s Consecration; Search for Agni; Kaubera Sacred Site

Devanagari script

उन महाबली योगेश्वर स्कन्ददेवको लोग एक, दो, चार, सौ तथा सहस्ौरों रूपोंमें देखते और जानते हैं ।। एतत्‌ ते कथितं राजन्‌ कार्तिकेयाभिषेचनम्‌ | शृणु चैव सरस्वत्यास्तीर्थवर्यस्य पुण्यताम्‌,राजन! यह मैंने तुम्हें कार्तिकेयके अभिषेकका प्रसंग सुनाया है। अब तुम सरस्वतीके उस श्रेष्ठ तीर्थकी पावनताका वर्णन सुनो

Transliteration

un mahābalī yogeśvara skandadevaṃ loka ekam, dve, catvāri, śatāni tathā sahasrāṇi rūpāṇi paśyanti jānanti ca || etat te kathitaṃ rājan kārtikeyābhiṣecanam | śṛṇu caiva sarasvatyās tīrthavaryasya puṇyatām ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana sprach: Die Menschen schauen und erkennen den mächtigen Skanda, den Herrn des Yoga, in einer Gestalt, in zweien, in vieren, in Hunderten und sogar in Tausenden von Erscheinungen. O König, so habe ich dir den Bericht von Kārtikeyas Weihe (abhiṣeka) erzählt. Höre nun weiter, während ich die Heiligkeit des erhabensten Tīrtha am Fluss Sarasvatī beschreibe.

Word by Word

• {'mahābalī': 'very mighty, of great strength', 'yogeśvara': 'lord/master of yogic power

• a supreme divine adept', 'skandadeva': 'Skanda, the god (also Kārtikeya)', 'lokaḥ': 'people

• the world (here: people in the world)', 'rūpa': 'form, manifestation, appearance', 'ekam / dve / catvāri': 'one / two / four', 'śatāni': 'hundreds', 'sahasrāṇi': 'thousands', 'paśyanti': 'they see, behold', 'jānanti': 'they know, recognize, understand', 'etat': 'this (account)', 'te': 'to you', 'kathitam': 'told, narrated', 'rājan': 'O king', 'kārtikeyābhiṣecanam': 'the consecration/anointing (abhiṣeka) of Kārtikeya', 'śṛṇu': 'listen', 'caiva': 'and indeed

• also', 'sarasvatyāḥ': 'of Sarasvatī (the river/goddess)', 'tīrthavaryasya': 'of the best/excellent tīrtha (sacred ford/pilgrimage site)', 'puṇyatām': 'holiness, sanctity, merit-conferring nature'}

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Skanda
• Kārtikeya
• Sarasvatī
• tīrtha (sacred ford/pilgrimage site)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse emphasizes two linked ideas: the deity’s capacity to be perceived in many manifestations, and the ethical-religious turn from wonder to practice—listening about a tīrtha’s sanctity encourages reverence, self-purification, and merit through remembrance and pilgrimage.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana concludes the episode about Kārtikeya/Skanda’s consecration and signals a transition to the next topic: the holiness of a foremost Sarasvatī tīrtha, continuing the king-directed instruction through sacred history and place.