Shloka 12

द्वैतवन-सरः प्रवेशविघ्नः

Dvaītavana Lake: Obstructed Entry

Devanagari script

एष वीराष्टक: प्रोक्त: स्कन्दमातृगणोद्धव: । छागवकक्‍्त्रेण सहितो नवक: परिकीर्त्यते,शिशु और मातृगणोंको लेकर जो आठ व्यक्ति होते हैं, उन्हें “वीराष्टक” कहा गया है। बकरेके-से मुखसे युक्त स्कन्दको सम्मिलित करनेसे यह समुदाय वीर-नवक कहा जाता है

Transliteration

eṣa vīrāṣṭakaḥ proktaḥ skandamātṛgaṇoddhavaḥ | chāgavakaktrena sahito navakaḥ parikīrtyate ||

Translation

Mārkaṇḍeya sprach: „Diese Schar wird das ‘Vīrāṣṭaka’ genannt—die acht heroischen Wesen, die im Zusammenhang mit Skanda und dem Gefolge der Muttergöttinnen hervorgehen. Wird Skanda, der durch ein ziegenähnliches Antlitz ausgezeichnet ist, hinzugerechnet, so heißt das Ganze ‘Vīra-navaka’, die neunfache Heldengruppe.“

Word by Word

एषःthis

वीराष्टकःthe group of eight heroes/persons (the 'Vīrāṣṭaka')

प्रोक्तःis said/declared

स्कन्दमातृगणोद्भवःarisen from the group of Skanda's Mothers (Mātṛgaṇas)

छागवक्त्रेणwith a goat-face / by (having) a goat-like face

सहितःaccompanied/including

नवकःa group of nine (the 'Navaka')

परिकीर्त्यतेis proclaimed/called

Speaker

मार्कण्डेय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Mārkaṇḍeya

Skanda (Kārttikeya)

Mātṛgaṇa (Mātṛkās)

Vīrāṣṭaka

Vīra-navaka

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse classifies protective divine forces into a structured set: eight ‘vīras’ associated with Skanda and the Mother-goddesses are called the Vīrāṣṭaka; adding Skanda (noted here by a distinctive goat-faced form) makes the set nine, the Vīra-navaka. The emphasis is on naming and recognizing sacred groupings used in mythic-ritual contexts.

What is happening in the narrative?

Mārkaṇḍeya is explaining a traditional enumeration: a group of eight beings connected with Skanda and the Mātṛkās is identified and given a formal name, and then the count is expanded to nine by explicitly including Skanda, yielding a second formal designation.