Shloka 76

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

Devanagari script

पाणिकूर्चश्न॒ शम्बूक: पञ्चवक्त्रश्न शिक्षक: | चाषवक्त्रश्न जम्बूक: शाकवक्त्रश्न कुडउजल:

Transliteration

pāṇikūrcaśna śambūkaḥ pañcavaktraśna śikṣakaḥ | cāṣavaktraśna jambūkaḥ śākavaktraśna kuḍūjalaḥ ||

Translation

വൈശമ്പായനൻ പറഞ്ഞു— “അവിടെ പാണികൂർചൻ, ശംബൂകൻ, പഞ്ചവക്ത്രനായ ശിക്ഷകൻ, ചാഷവക്ത്രനായ ജംബൂകൻ, ശാകവക്ത്രനായ കുടൂജലൻ—ഇങ്ങനെ പേരുള്ള വിചിത്ര സത്ത്വങ്ങളും ഉണ്ടായിരുന്നു.”

Word by Word

पाणिकूर्चःone whose hand is like a brush/tuft (hand-bristled)

शम्बूकःŚambūka (a proper name)

पञ्चवक्त्रःfive-faced

शिक्षकःteacher/instructor

चाषवक्त्रःhaving a face like a chāṣa bird

जम्बूकःjackal; Jambūka (name)

शाकवक्त्रःhaving a face like a śāka (greens/vegetable) (textually uncertain epithet)

कुडउजलःKuḍaujal(a) (proper name; reading uncertain)

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Śambūka

Śikṣaka

Jambūka

Kuḍūjala

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 contributes to the epic’s ethical atmosphere by portraying abnormal, grotesque, or portent-like figures—suggesting that when adharma dominates and mass violence peaks, the world’s order appears inverted and ominous signs proliferate.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana is listing named figures with striking descriptive epithets (e.g., ‘five-faced’, ‘crow-faced’). The passage reads like a catalog of strange beings/omens, intensifying the sense of dread and moral chaos surrounding the war’s climax.