Shloka 103
Kārttikeya-Abhiṣecana: Mātṛgaṇa-Nāma Saṃkīrtana and Skanda’s Commission
नानाचर्मभिराच्छन्ना नानाभाषाश्न भारत | कुशला देशभाषासु जल्पन्तो<न्योन्यमी श्व॒रा:
nānācarmabhirācchannā nānābhāṣāś ca bhārata | kuśalā deśabhāṣāsu jalpanto 'nyonyam īśvarāḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “O Bhārata, there were men covered in many kinds of leather garments, speaking many different tongues. Skilled in the regional languages, they conversed confidently among themselves.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the vast diversity gathered around the Kurukṣetra war—peoples from many regions with different languages and customs—suggesting the epic’s vision of a wide human world drawn into the conflict, where competence and coordination matter amid chaos.
Vaiśampāyana is describing groups present in the war setting: men clad in various leather coverings, speaking different regional languages, and conversing among themselves—part of a broader catalog-like depiction of the assembled forces and their variety.