Shloka 15

Āraṇyaka Parva, Adhyāya 233 — Pandavas Mobilize; Arjuna’s Conciliation and the Onset of Combat

Devanagari script

सहस्रशीर्षस्त्वमनन्तरूप: सहस्रपात्‌ त्वं गुह शक्तिधारी । गड्जासुतस्त्वं स्वमतेन देव स्वाहामहीकृत्तिकानां तथैव,आपके सहसीरों मस्तक हैं। आपके रूपका कहीं अन्त नहीं है। आपके सहसीरों चरण हैं। गुह! आप शक्ति धारण करते हैं। देव! आप अपने इच्छानुसार गंगा, स्वाहा, पृथ्वी तथा कृत्तिकाओंके पुत्ररूपसे प्रकट हुए हैं

Transliteration

sahasraśīrṣas tvam anantarūpaḥ sahasrapāt tvaṃ guha śaktidhārī | gaṅgāsutas tvaṃ svamatena deva svāhāmahīkṛttikānāṃ tathaiva ||

Translation

Dijo Mārkaṇḍeya: “Tú eres el de las mil cabezas, de formas infinitas; tú eres el de los mil pies. ¡Oh Guha, portador del poder divino de la lanza! ¡Oh dios!, por tu propia voluntad te has manifestado como hijo de Gaṅgā, y asimismo como hijo de Svāhā, de la Tierra y de las Kṛttikās.”

Word by Word

• {'sahasraśīrṣaḥ': 'thousand-headed

• possessing innumerable heads (cosmic, all-pervading epithet)', 'anantarūpaḥ': 'of infinite/limitless forms', 'sahasrapāt': 'thousand-footed

• having innumerable feet (all-pervading)', 'guha': 'Guha

• a name of Skanda/Kārttikeya (also ‘the hidden one’)', 'śaktidhārī': 'spear-bearer

• holder of the śakti (Skanda’s weapon/power)', 'gaṅgāsutaḥ': 'son of Gaṅgā', 'svamatena': 'by one’s own will/choice

• according to one’s own intention', 'deva': 'god

• divine being', 'svāhā': 'Svāhā

• personified oblation/fire-offering deity, linked with Skanda’s birth legend', 'mahī': 'Earth

• the goddess/ground (Mahī/Pr̥thivī)', 'kṛttikāḥ': 'the Kṛttikās (Pleiades)

• foster-mothers of Skanda', 'tathaiva': 'and likewise

Speaker

मार्कण्डेय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Mārkaṇḍeya
• Guha (Skanda/Kārttikeya)
• Gaṅgā
• Svāhā
• Mahī (Earth/Pr̥thivī)
• Kṛttikās

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches reverent recognition of the divine as limitless and multi-manifest: one deity can assume many forms and relationships by free will, inviting humility and devotion rather than rigid, single-story interpretations.

What is happening in the narrative?

Mārkaṇḍeya is praising Guha (Skanda/Kārttikeya), describing him with cosmic epithets (thousand-headed, infinite-formed) and recalling multiple birth traditions—son of Gaṅgā, Svāhā, Earth, and the Kṛttikās—framing them as deliberate divine manifestations.