Shloka 14

द्वैतवन-सरः प्रवेशविघ्नः

Dvaītavana Lake: Obstructed Entry

Devanagari script

षण्णां तु प्रवरं तस्य शीर्षाणामिह शब्द्यते । शक्ति येनासृजद्‌ दिव्यां भद्रशाख इति सम ह,स्कन्दके छहों मस्तकोंमें वही सर्वश्रेष्ठ बताया जाता है। उन्होंने दिव्यशक्तिका प्रयोग किया था; इसलिये उनका नाम भद्रशाख हुआ

Transliteration

ṣaṇṇāṃ tu pravaraṃ tasya śīrṣāṇām iha śabdyate | śaktiṃ yenāsṛjad divyāṃ bhadraśākha iti saṃjñitaḥ ||

Translation

Mārkaṇḍeya sprach: „Unter seinen sechs Häuptern gilt eines hier als das vornehmste. Weil er eine göttliche Kraft hervorbrachte (oder einsetzte), wurde er unter dem Namen ‚Bhadraśākha‘ bekannt.“

Word by Word

षण्णाम्of six

तुbut/indeed

प्रवरम्the best, the foremost

तस्यof him/of that

शीर्षाणाम्of the heads

इहhere/in this context

शब्द्यतेis called/is spoken of

शक्तिम्power; (divine) spear/weapon

येनby which/with which

असृजत्created/produced

दिव्याम्divine

भद्रशाखःBhadrashākha (one having auspicious branches; proper name/epithet)

इतिthus/so (quotative)

सम्together; completely (as preverb/particle)

हindeed (emphatic particle)

Speaker

मार्कण्डेय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Mārkaṇḍeya

Bhadraśākha

Skanda (implied by the six heads context)

divine śakti (power/weapon)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how extraordinary capability (divine śakti) becomes the basis for recognition and naming: excellence is identified, remembered, and ethically framed through the deeds or powers one manifests.

What is happening in the narrative?

Mārkaṇḍeya is describing a figure associated with six heads (contextually Skanda) and notes that one head is regarded as foremost; because a divine śakti was produced/used through him, he bears the epithet ‘Bhadraśākha.’