Shloka 5
भद्रवटगमनम् — स्कन्देन महिषदानवनिग्रहः
Bhadravaṭa Procession and Skanda’s Neutralization of Mahiṣa
पज्चवर्ण: स तपसा कृतस्तै: पञ्चभिर्जनै: । पाज्चजन्य: श्रुतों देवः पजचवंशकरस्तु सः
pañcavarṇaḥ sa tapasā kṛtas taiḥ pañcabhir janaiḥ | pāñcajanyaḥ śruto devaḥ pañcavaṁśakaraḥ tu saḥ ||
Mārkaṇḍeya dit : Par la puissance de l’ascèse, ces cinq sages firent apparaître un homme aux cinq teintes. Et parce qu’on le connut sous le nom de « Pāñcajanya » —être quasi divin, associé au nombre cinq—, il devint le fondateur et le continuateur des lignées de ces cinq ṛṣis.
मार्कण्डेय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse presents tapas (disciplined austerity) as a potent, morally charged force: when exercised by sages, it can ‘bring forth’ outcomes that sustain dharmic continuity—here, the establishment of lineages—implying responsibility in how spiritual power is used.
Mārkaṇḍeya narrates that five sages, through their austerities, manifested a five-hued, godlike person. Because of his association with the ‘five,’ he became known as Pāñcajanya and went on to found or propagate the family lines of those five sages.