Shloka 23

Varuṇābhiṣeka–Agni-anveṣaṇa–Kaubera-tīrtha

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

Devanagari script

जटालिका कामचरी दीर्घजिद्दा बलोत्कटा । कालेहिका वामनिका मुकुटा चैव भारत

Transliteration

jaṭālikā kāmacarī dīrghajiddā balotkaṭā | kālehikā vāmanikā mukuṭā caiva bhārata

Translation

Vaiśampāyana said: “O Bhārata, (there were beings) named Jaṭālikā, Kāmacarī, Dīrghajiddā, Balotkaṭā, Kālehikā, Vāmanikā, and Mukuṭā.”

Word by Word

जटालिकाthe matted-haired (woman/being)

कामचरीmoving at will; roaming as she pleases

दीर्घजिद्दाlong-tongued

बलोत्कटाexceedingly strong; mighty

कालेहिकाKālehikā (a proper name/epithet)

वामनिकाVāmanikā (a proper name/epithet); the dwarf-like one

मुकुटाMukuṭā (a proper name/epithet); the crowned one

चand

एवindeed; just

भारतO Bhārata (descendant of Bharata)

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Bhārata (Janamejaya)

Jaṭālikā

Kāmacarī

Dīrghajiddā

Balotkaṭā

Kālehikā

Vāmanikā

Mukuṭā

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

This verse is primarily descriptive rather than didactic: it preserves a traditional list of named beings, emphasizing the epic’s habit of recording lineages, groups, and ominous or extraordinary figures that frame the moral gravity of the war narrative.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana continues an enumeration, addressing Janamejaya as ‘Bhārata’ and listing several named figures (likely a class of fierce or uncanny beings in the surrounding context), contributing to the atmosphere and detail of the Shalya Parva account.