Shloka 1
भद्रवटगमनम् — स्कन्देन महिषदानवनिग्रहः
Bhadravaṭa Procession and Skanda’s Neutralization of Mahiṣa
#::73:.8 #::3:.:7 () हि २ 7 ३. “अग्नीषोमावुपांशु यष्टव्यावजामित्वाय” इस श्रुतिमें अग्नि और सोमको उपांशु मन्त्रोच्चारणपूर्वक आज्यभाग अर्पण करनेका विधान है। यहाँ सोमके साथ जिस अग्निको आज्यभागका अधिकारी बताया गया है
mārkaṇḍeya uvāca |
kāśyapo hāṭha-vāsiṣṭhaḥ prāṇaś ca prāṇa-putrakaḥ |
agnir āṅgirasaś caiva cyavanas triṣu-varcakaḥ ||
Markandeya said: “O Yudhiṣṭhira, these are the five sacred fires: Kāśyapa (son of Kaśyapa), Hāṭha-Vāsiṣṭha (son of Vasiṣṭha), Prāṇa (and Prāṇaputraka), Agni of the Āṅgirasa line, and Cyavana, the three-radiant one. Thus is described the origin and lineage of the Pañcajana fires.”
मार्कण्डेय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames sacred fire not merely as a physical element but as a lineage-bearing, ritually authoritative principle. By naming distinct ‘fires’ with genealogical identities, it reinforces dharma as continuity—ritual order preserved through recognized origins and proper transmission.
Mārkaṇḍeya, speaking to Yudhiṣṭhira, begins a description of the origin and descendants of a set of five sacred fires (pañcajana/pāñcajana). He lists the five by name and lineage, setting up a broader account of their emergence and succession.