Shloka 15

Varuṇābhiṣeka–Agni-anveṣaṇa–Kaubera-tīrtha

Varuṇa’s Consecration; Search for Agni; Kaubera Sacred Site

Devanagari script

कुक्कुटिका शड्खलिका तथा शकुनिका नृप । कुण्डारिका कौकुलिका कुम्भिकाथ शतोदरी

Transliteration

kukkutikā śaḍkhalikā tathā śakunikā nṛpa | kuṇḍārikā kaukulikā kumbhikātha śatodarī ||

Translation

Vaiśaṃpāyana said: “O king, (there were) Kukkutikā, Śaḍkhalikā, and also Śakunikā; Kuṇḍārikā, Kaukulikā, Kumbhikā, and Śatodarī.”

Word by Word

• कुक्कुटिका: a hen (female fowl); (name of a creature)
• कुक्कुटिका: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: कुक्कुटिका
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• शङ्खलिका: Shankhalikā (proper name; lit. 'chain-like')
• शङ्खलिका: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: शङ्खलिका
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• तथा: and also; likewise
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा

• शकुनिका: Shakunikā (proper name; lit. 'bird-like')
• शकुनिका: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: शकुनिका
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• नृप: O king
• Type: Noun
• Root: नृप
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• कुण्डारिका: Kuṇḍārikā (proper name)
• कुण्डारिका: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: कुण्डारिका
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• कौकुलिका: Kaukulikā (proper name)
• कौकुलिका: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: कौकुलिका
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• कुम्भिका: Kumbhikā (proper name; lit. 'pot-like')
• कुम्भिका: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: कुम्भिका
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• अथ: then; and further
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अथ

• शतोदरी: Shatodarī (proper name; lit. 'having a hundred bellies')
• शतोदरी: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: शतोदरी
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśaṃpāyana
• Janamejaya (implied by nṛpa)
• Kukkutikā
• Śaḍkhalikā
• Śakunikā
• Kuṇḍārikā
• Kaukulikā
• Kumbhikā
• Śatodarī

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

This verse is primarily enumerative rather than didactic: it preserves names within the epic’s record. Its implicit value is fidelity to testimony—careful narration and remembrance of persons within the larger moral history of the war.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśaṃpāyana, addressing the king (Janamejaya), lists a sequence of named women (proper names) as part of a longer catalogue in this section of Śalya Parva.