Shloka 107
Kārttikeya-Abhiṣecana: Mātṛgaṇa-Nāma Saṃkīrtana and Skanda’s Commission
चामरापीडकनिभा: श्वेतलोहितराजय: । नानावर्णा: सवर्णाश्व मयूरसदृशप्रभा:
cāmarāpīḍakanibhāḥ śvetalohitarājayaḥ | nānāvārṇāḥ savarṇāśva mayūrasadṛśaprabhāḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “Some of those attendants appeared white, like yak-tail fans and like garlands or crests of flowers. On some bodies there were visible streaks of white and red. Some attendants were of many different hues, while many others shared the same coloration. A few shone with a radiance like that of peacocks.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse is primarily descriptive rather than prescriptive: it highlights the extraordinary, almost otherworldly appearance of a retinue. In the epic’s ethical atmosphere, such imagery often signals heightened significance—moments where power, fate, or divine presence surrounds the unfolding events—inviting the listener to read the scene with seriousness and moral attention.
Vaiśampāyana describes a group of attendants (pārṣadas), detailing their varied complexions and radiance—white like ceremonial fans and floral crests, marked with white-and-red streaks, multicolored or uniformly colored, and some shining like peacocks—thereby intensifying the scene’s grandeur and portent.