Shloka 17
भद्रवटगमनम् — स्कन्देन महिषदानवनिग्रहः
Bhadravaṭa Procession and Skanda’s Neutralization of Mahiṣa
चितोअग्निरुद्धतन् यज्ञ पक्षाभ्यां तान् प्रबाधते । मन्त्रै: प्रशमिता होते नेष्टं मुष्णन्ति यज्ञियम्
cito 'gnir uddhataṁ yajña-pakṣābhyāṁ tān prabādhate | mantraiḥ praśamitā hote neṣṭaṁ muṣṇanti yajñiyam ||
Mārkaṇḍeya berkata: “Ketika api kurban, setelah disucikan dan dinyalakan hingga menyala, menjalankan ritus, ia menekan roh-roh penghalang itu dengan dua ‘sayap’-nya—lidah-lidah api di sisi kanan dan kiri. Namun bila ia ditenteramkan dengan mantra, para Vināyaka itu tak mampu mencuri havis yang diperuntukkan bagi yajña.”
मार्कण्डेय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Ritual order is safeguarded by disciplined mantra and properly kindled sacred fire: spiritual and psychological ‘obstacles’ cannot disrupt offerings when the rite is performed with correct consecration and recitation.
Mārkaṇḍeya explains that obstructing beings (Vināyakas) try to interfere with sacrifices by stealing offerings, but the blazing sacrificial fire—especially when appeased and regulated through mantras—drives them away so they cannot approach or seize the oblations.