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 ||
Mārkaṇḍeya dit : «Dans ce foyer sacré, le jour de Pratipadā, Svāhā—mue par le désir—déposa la semence. Cette semence répandue, enveloppée et mûrie là par sa propre splendeur ardente, fit naître un fils.»
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.