Shloka 69

Kārttikeya-Abhiṣecana: Mātṛgaṇa-Nāma Saṃkīrtana and Skanda’s Commission

Devanagari script

कालकण्ठ: प्रभासश्न॒ तथा कुम्भाण्डकोदर: । कालकक्ष: सितश्चैव भूतानां मथनस्तथा

Transliteration

kālakaṇṭhaḥ prabhāsaś ca tathā kumbhāṇḍakodaraḥ | kālakakṣaḥ sitaś caiva bhūtānāṁ mathanas tathā ||

Translation

വൈശമ്പായനൻ പറഞ്ഞു— അവിടെ കാലകണ്ഠൻ, പ്രഭാസൻ, കുംഭാണ്ഡകോദരൻ; കൂടാതെ കാലകക്ഷൻ, സിതൻ; ഭൂതാനാംമഥനനും ഉണ്ടായിരുന്നു.

Word by Word

कालकण्ठःKālakāṇṭha (lit. black-throated; a name)

प्रभासःPrabhāsa (a name)

चand

तथाalso; likewise

कुम्भाण्डकोदरःKumbhāṇḍakodara (lit. pot-egg-bellied; a name)

कालकक्षःKālakakṣa (lit. black-axilla/side; a name)

सितःSita (a name; lit. white)

चand

एवindeed; just

भूतानाम्of beings

मथनःMathana (churner; a name)

तथाalso; likewise

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Kālakaṇṭha

Prabhāsa

Kumbhāṇḍakodara

Kālakakṣa

Sita

Bhūtānāṁmathana

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse functions as a stark reminder that war memorializes people through fearsome deeds and epithets; the ethical undertone is that violence reduces human identity to terrifying reputations, highlighting the dehumanizing gravity of adharma-driven conflict.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana is enumerating named fighters present in the conflict during the Shalya Parva context, listing additional warriors by their proper names as part of a broader catalogue of combatants.