Shloka 16

Duryodhana Seized by Citraseṇa; Kaurava Petition to Yudhiṣṭhira (दुर्योधनापहारः / चित्रसेनगन्धर्वग्रहणम्)

Devanagari script

मातर ऊचु: यास्तु ता मातर: पूर्व लोकस्यास्य प्रकल्पिता: । अस्माकं तु भवेत्‌ स्थान तासां चैव न तद्‌ भवेत्‌,माताओंने कहा--(ब्राह्मी, माहेश्वरी आदि) सुप्रसिद्ध लोकमाताएँ जो पहलेसे इस सम्पूर्ण जगत॒की माताओंके स्थानपर प्रतिष्ठित हों, (वे अपना पद छोड़ दें।) उनके उस स्थानपर अब हमारा अधिकार हो जाय। उनका उसपर कोई अधिकार न रहे

Transliteration

mātara ūcuḥ | yāstu tā mātaraḥ pūrva lokasyāsya prakalpitāḥ | asmākaṃ tu bhavet sthānaṃ tāsāṃ caiva na tad bhavet ||

Translation

The Mothers said: “Those Mothers who were formerly established as the appointed Mothers of this world—let their station become ours instead. Let that position belong to us, and let it no longer remain theirs.”

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'mātaraḥ', 'definition': 'the Mothers

• divine mother-goddesses (a collective group)'}, {'term': 'ūcuḥ', 'definition': 'said

• spoke (perfect tense, 3rd person plural)'}, {'term': 'yāḥ tu tāḥ', 'definition': 'those indeed (emphatic reference to a known group)'}, {'term': 'pūrva', 'definition': 'formerly

• earlier'}, {'term': 'lokasya asya', 'definition': 'of this world'}, {'term': 'prakalpitāḥ', 'definition': 'appointed, established, instituted (as by ordinance/arrangement)'}, {'term': 'asmākam', 'definition': 'of us

• our'}, {'term': 'bhavet', 'definition': 'may it be

• should become'}, {'term': 'sthānam', 'definition': 'place, station, office, status'}, {'term': 'tāsām', 'definition': 'of them (feminine plural genitive)'}, {'term': 'na tat bhavet', 'definition': 'let that not be (theirs)

Speaker

स्कन्द उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Skanda
• the Mothers (Mātaraḥ / divine Mothers of the world)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights a tension between established cosmic order (those already appointed to a role) and the desire to displace it through claim and ambition, raising an ethical question about legitimacy versus mere assertion of right.

What is happening in the narrative?

A group called the “Mothers” speak, referring to earlier world-mothers already installed in their positions, and demand that those positions be transferred to themselves so that the former holders no longer retain that authority.