Mahabharata 9.46.3 — Shalya Parva, Adhyaya 46, Shloka 3
Varuṇābhiṣeka–Agni-anveṣaṇa–Kaubera-tīrtha
Varuṇa’s Consecration; Search for Agni; Kaubera Sacred Site
प्रभावती विशालाक्षी पालिता गोस्तनी तथा । श्रीमती बहुला चैव तथैव बहुपुत्रिका
vaiśampāyana uvāca |
prabhāvatī viśālākṣī pālitā gostanī tathā |
śrīmatī bahulā caiva tathaiva bahuputrikā |
ekacandrā meghakarṇā meghamālā virocanā ||
ವೈಶಂಪಾಯನನು ಹೇಳಿದನು—(ಅವರಲ್ಲಿ) ಪ್ರಭಾವತೀ, ವಿಶಾಲಾಕ್ಷೀ, ಪಾಲಿತಾ, ಗೋಸ್ತನೀ; ಹಾಗೆಯೇ ಶ್ರೀಮತೀ, ಬಹುಲಾ, ಬಹುಪುತ್ರಿಕಾ; ಏಕಚಂದ್ರಾ, ಮೇಘಕರ್ಣಾ, ಮೇಘಮಾಲಾ, ವಿರೋಚನಾ.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse itself is not a direct moral injunction; its function is epic ‘cataloguing’: naming many presences to convey the scale and complexity of forces around the war. Ethically, such catalogues underscore that human action in war unfolds amid vast, often unseen conditions—hence the need for vigilance, restraint, and discernment (viveka) rather than arrogance.
Vaiśampāyana continues enumerating a group of named female beings (as part of a longer list in the chapter). The passage is a segment of that list, giving several names in metrical form, contributing to the chapter’s atmosphere of portent and the sense of many agencies surrounding the battlefield.
Ask anything about this verse
Curious about the meaning, context, or a word? Ask, and continue the conversation in the Vedapath app.
A free Google sign-in keeps your chat saved across web and the app.
Read Mahabharata in the Vedapath app
Scan the QR code to open this directly in the app, with audio, word-by-word meanings, and more.