Shloka 15

कुमाराभिषेकप्रश्नः — Inquiry into Kumāra (Skanda) Investiture at Sarasvatī

Devanagari script

आराध्य पशुभर्तारें महादेवं जगत्पतिम्‌ | तां देवीं मोक्षयामासु: सरिच्छेष्ठां सरस्वतीम्‌

Transliteration

ārādhya paśubhartāraṃ mahādevaṃ jagatpatim | tāṃ devīṃ mokṣayāmāsuḥ sariccheṣṭhāṃ sarasvatīm

Translation

Vaiśampāyana dit : Après avoir dûment adoré Mahādeva —Paśupati, seigneur des créatures et maître du monde—, ils entreprirent de délivrer la déesse Sarasvatī, la plus éminente des rivières.

Word by Word

• आराध्य: having worshipped
• Type: Verb
• Root: आ-राध् (धातु)
• Form: ल्यप् (absolutive/gerund), कर्तरि, true

• पशुभर्तारम्: the lord/supporter of creatures
• पशुभर्तारम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: पशुभर्तृ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• महादेवम्: Mahadeva (Śiva)
• महादेवम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: महादेव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• जगत्पतिम्: lord of the world
• जगत्पतिम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: जगत्पति (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• ताम्: her/that (f.)
• ताम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• देवीम्: goddess
• देवीम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: देवी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• मोक्षयामासुः: they released / set free
• Type: Verb
• Root: मुच् (धातु) / मोक्षयति (णिच्-प्रयोग)
• Form: लिट् (periphrastic perfect), Third, Plural, परस्मैपद, कर्तरि

• सरिच्छेष्ठाम्: the best among rivers
• सरिच्छेष्ठाम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सरित् + श्रेष्ठा (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• सरस्वतीम्: Sarasvatī (river/goddess)
• सरस्वतीम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: सरस्वती (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Mahādeva (Śiva)
• Sarasvatī

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights that auspicious and effective action is preceded by proper worship and alignment with dharma: reverence to the divine (Mahādeva) becomes the ethical and ritual foundation for freeing what is constrained (here, the river-goddess Sarasvatī).

What is happening in the narrative?

The narrators describe how, after propitiating Mahādeva, the participants proceed to ‘release’ Sarasvatī, praised as the foremost of rivers—indicating a ritual or divine intervention by which the river-goddess is set free to flow or to resume her course.