Shloka 16
Duryodhana’s Śaraṇāgati and the Pāṇḍavas’ Resolve
Gandharva Encounter
स्त्रियो मानुषमांसादा वृद्धिका नाम नामत: । वृक्षेषु जातास्ता देव्यो नमस्कार्या: प्रजार्थिभि:,वृक्षोंपरसे गिरे हुए शुक्रसे 'वृद्धिका' नामवाली स्त्रियाँ उत्पन्न हुई हैं, जो मनुष्यका मांस भक्षण करनेवाली हैं। संतानकी इच्छा रखनेवाले लोगोंको इन देवियोंके आगे मस्तक झुकाना चाहिये
striyo mānuṣamāṁsādā vṛddhikā nāma nāmataḥ | vṛkṣeṣu jātās tā devyo namaskāryāḥ prajārthibhiḥ ||
Mārkaṇḍeya dijo: «Hay mujeres, devoradoras de carne humana, conocidas con el nombre de “Vṛddhikā”. Nacidas en los árboles, deben ser reverenciadas como potencias divinas; quienes anhelan descendencia han de inclinarse ante ellas.»
मार्कण्डेय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames certain fearsome beings as ‘devīs’ whose power can be approached through reverence, especially by those seeking progeny—suggesting that even terrifying forces are to be ritually acknowledged and propitiated within a dharmic worldview.
Mārkaṇḍeya describes a class of beings called Vṛddhikā—women who eat human flesh and are said to be born on trees—and instructs that people desiring children should bow to them as divine powers.