Shloka 17

Varuṇābhiṣeka–Agni-anveṣaṇa–Kaubera-tīrtha

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

Devanagari script

केशयन्त्री ब्रुटिरवामा क्रोशनाथ तडित्‌प्रभा । मन्दोदरी च मुण्डी च कोटरा मेघवाहिनी

Transliteration

keśayantī bruṭiravāmā krośanātha taḍitprabhā | mandodarī ca muṇḍī ca koṭarā meghavāhinī ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana said: “(There were) Keśayantī, Bruṭiravāmā, Krośanāthā, Taḍitprabhā; and also Mandodarī, Muṇḍī, Koṭarā, and Meghavāhinī.” In the grim atmosphere of the war, the narration lists fierce, ominous female figures—names that evoke dishevelment, wailing, lightning-like glare, baldness, hollowness, and cloud-bearing darkness—intensifying the ethical warning that adharma-driven violence culminates in terror, lamentation, and inauspicious portents.

Word by Word

• केशयन्त्री: she who binds/controls hair; hair-binder
• केशयन्त्री: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: केश-यन्त्रिन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• ब्रुटिः: Bruti (a female name/epithet)
• ब्रुटिः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: ब्रुटि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• अरवामा: Aravāmā (a female name/epithet)
• अरवामा: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: अरवामा (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• क्रोशनाथ: lord of a krośa (a measure); Krośanātha (name/epithet)
• क्रोशनाथ: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: क्रोश-नाथ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• तडित्प्रभा: having lightning-like radiance
• तडित्प्रभा: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: तडित्-प्रभा (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• मन्दोदरी: Mandodarī (name; lit. 'she of a gentle/soft belly')
• मन्दोदरी: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: मन्द-उदर-इन् / मन्दोदरी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• मुण्डी: Muṇḍī (name/epithet; 'shaven-headed' woman)
• मुण्डी: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: मुण्डी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• कोटरा: Koṭarā (name/epithet; 'hollow/cavernous')
• कोटरा: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: कोटर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• मेघवाहिनी: cloud-bearer; she who carries clouds
• मेघवाहिनी: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: मेघ-वाहिन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Keśayantī
• Bruṭiravāmā
• Krośanāthā
• Taḍitprabhā
• Mandodarī
• Muṇḍī
• Koṭarā
• Meghavāhinī

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

By foregrounding terrifying, inauspicious figures through evocative names, the passage reinforces a Mahābhārata ethic: when conflict is driven by adharma, its fruits are dread, disorder, and collective lamentation—signals that moral rupture manifests as ominous experience.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana is listing a set of named female beings (often understood as ominous or fearsome presences) appearing in the war context, heightening the sense of impending calamity and the dreadful atmosphere surrounding the battlefield events.