Shloka 6

Devanagari script

उत्तेजनी जयत्सेना कमलाक्ष्यथ शोभना | शत्रुंजया तथा चैव क्रोधना शलभी खरी

Transliteration

uttejanī jayatsenā kamalākṣy atha śobhanā | śatruñjayā tathā caiva krodhanā śalabhī kharī ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana said: “(There were) Uttejanī, Jayatsenā, Kamalākṣī, and also Śobhanā; likewise Śatruñjayā, and Krodhanā, Śalabhī, and Kharī.” In the war-narrative context, the verse functions as a catalog of named women, preserving memory and lineage by recording individual identities amid the larger violence of the Kurukṣetra events.

Word by Word

उत्तेजनीUttejanī (a woman's name; the inciter/rouser)

जयत्सेनाJayatsenā (whose army conquers; a woman's name)

कमलाक्षीKamalākṣī (lotus-eyed; a woman's name)

अथand then / also

शोभनाbeautiful; splendid (a woman's name or epithet)

शत्रुंजयाŚatruñjayā (conqueror of enemies; a woman's name)

तथाlikewise / also

चand

एवindeed / just

क्रोधनाwrathful; angry (a woman's name or epithet)

शलभीŚalabhī (a woman's name; lit. 'moth/locust')

खरीKharī (a woman's name; lit. 'she-donkey')

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Uttejanī

Jayatsenā

Kamalākṣī

Śobhanā

Śatruñjayā

Krodhanā

Śalabhī

Kharī

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse is primarily documentary rather than didactic: it underscores how the epic preserves individual identities through careful naming, reminding readers that behind large-scale conflict stand distinct persons whose lives are worth recording.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana continues a list of women’s names within the Shalya Parva’s ongoing narration, presenting a catalog-style enumeration as part of the epic’s broader account of people connected to the events of the war.