Shloka 53
द्वैतवन-सरः प्रवेशविघ्नः
Dvaītavana Lake: Obstructed Entry
यजन्ति पुत्रकामाश्च पुत्रिणश्व सदा जना: । इसीलिये भूतलके मनुष्य स्कन्दको कुमार-ग्रहोंका पिता कहते हैं। भिन्न-भिन्न स्थानोंमें पुत्रवान् तथा पुत्रकी इच्छा रखनेवाले मनुष्य अग्निस्वरूप रुद्र और स्वाहास्वरूपा महाबलवती उमाकी सदा आराधना करते हैं
yajanti putrakāmāś ca putriṇaś ca sadā janāḥ |
Mārkaṇḍeya said: People—both those who long for sons and those already blessed with sons—continually perform worship and sacrifice. Hence, among humans on earth, Skanda is spoken of as the father of the Kumāra-grahas; and in many places men, whether seeking offspring or possessing it, ever revere Rudra in the form of fire and the mighty Umā in the form of Svāhā, seeing in their divine union the source of progeny and protection.
मार्कण्डेय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a dharmic pattern: human longing for lineage and the safeguarding of children is traditionally expressed through sustained worship and sacrificial rites, especially directed to Rudra and Umā as cosmic sources of vitality and progeny, with Skanda invoked as a protective progenitor figure connected to child-afflicting forces (grahas).
Mārkaṇḍeya explains prevailing human religious practice: people who desire sons and those who already have sons regularly perform worship; he then links this to a belief about Skanda’s relation to the Kumāra-grahas and notes the widespread propitiation of Rudra-as-Fire and Umā-as-Svāhā for the sake of offspring and protection.