Shloka 15
Skanda–Svāhā-saṃvāda; Gaṇa-vyutpatti and Śvetaparvata-vaibhava
Chapter 220
अनुकूजन्ति येनेह वेदनार्ता: स्वयं जना: । तस्य पुत्र: स्वनो नाम पावक: स रुजस्कर:,सत्यके पुत्रका नाम 'स्वन” है, जिनसे पीडित होकर लोग वेदनासे स्वयं कराह उठते हैं। इसीलिये उनका यह नाम पड़ा है। वे रोगकारक अनग्नि हैं
anukūjanti yeneha vedanārtāḥ svayaṃ janāḥ | tasya putraḥ svano nāma pāvakaḥ sa rujaskaraḥ ||
Mārkaṇḍeya said: “Because of him, people here—afflicted by pain—begin to groan of their own accord. Therefore his son is called Svana (‘Groan’). Though termed a ‘fire’ (pāvaka), he is in truth a maker of disease and suffering.”
मार्कण्डेय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse explains a moral-psychological truth through name-etymology: when a force causes widespread pain, its very identity becomes tied to the suffering it produces. It highlights how harmful agency is recognized and remembered by its effects on living beings.
Mārkaṇḍeya is describing a figure whose influence makes people groan in pain; he then introduces that figure’s son named Svana, characterized as ‘pāvaka’ (fire) yet specifically as rujaskara—one who generates disease and distress.