Shloka 16
Karṇa’s Counsel on Śrī
Fortune) and the Proposed Display before the Exiled Pāṇḍavas (कर्णवचनम् / श्रीप्रदर्शन-प्रस्तावः
तस्मिन् कुण्डे प्रतिपदि कामिन्या स्वाहया तदा । तत् स्कन्न॑ तेजसा तत्र संवृतं जनयत् सुतम्
tasmin kuṇḍe pratipadi kāminyā svāhayā tadā | tat skannaṃ tejasā tatra saṃvṛtaṃ janayat sutam ||
Dijo Mārkaṇḍeya: «En aquel foso sagrado del fuego, en el día de Pratipadā, Svāhā—movida por el deseo—depositó la simiente. Esa simiente derramada, envuelta y madurada allí por su propio fulgor ígneo, engendró un hijo».
मार्कण्डेय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how actions driven by desire (kāma) still unfold under the law of consequence, and how tejas (inner fire/energy) can transform circumstances into a potent outcome. It suggests an ethical nuance: origins may be mixed, yet the resulting being can be honored for the power and role that emerge.
Mārkaṇḍeya narrates that Svāhā, on Pratipadā, placed the spilled seed into a sacrificial fire-pit (kuṇḍa). Enclosed and energized by tejas, it generated a son—understood in the broader episode as Skanda’s birth.