Skanda’s Svastyayana and the Slaying of Taraka and Mahisha
हंसास्यः पट्टिशेनाथ जघान महिषासुरम् षोटशाक्षस्त्रिशूलेन शतशीर्षो वरासिना
haṃsāsyaḥ paṭṭiśenātha jaghāna mahiṣāsuram ṣoṭaśākṣastriśūlena śataśīrṣo varāsinā
そのときハンサースヤは、パッティシャ(戦斧)によって魔マヒシャを討ち倒した。ショータシャークシャはトリシューラ(三叉戟)で別の敵を屠り、シャタシールシャは優れた剣で斬り伏せた。
{ "primaryRasa": "raudra", "secondaryRasa": "vira", "rasaIntensity": 0, "emotionalArcPosition": "", "moodDescriptors": [] }
Purāṇic battle narration often shifts from mass combat to named champions to dramatize victory and to preserve traditional lists of Śiva’s attendants, each marked by distinctive epithets (faces, eyes, heads) and signature weapons.
The triśūla is a primary Śaiva emblem, representing Śiva’s sovereign power in battle and, in later theological readings, mastery over triads (e.g., creation–maintenance–dissolution or the three guṇas). In narrative terms it signals unmistakably Śaiva agency.
Not necessarily. The epithet ‘Mahiṣa-asura’ can denote a demon named Mahiṣa or a ‘buffalo-demon’ type. Some Purāṇic traditions reuse famous demon-names across cycles; identification depends on surrounding narrative markers, which are not present in this isolated verse.