Shloka 101

Varuṇābhiṣeka–Agni-anveṣaṇa–Kaubera-tīrtha

Varuṇa’s Consecration; Search for Agni; Kaubera Sacred Site

Devanagari script

उन महाबली योगेश्वर स्कन्ददेवको लोग एक, दो, चार, सौ तथा सहस्ौरों रूपोंमें देखते और जानते हैं ।।

Transliteration

un mahābalī yogeśvara skandadevaṃ loka ekam, dve, catvāri, śatāni tathā sahasrāṇi rūpāṇi paśyanti jānanti ca || etat te kathitaṃ rājan kārtikeyābhiṣecanam | śṛṇu caiva sarasvatyās tīrthavaryasya puṇyatām ||

Translation

ജനങ്ങൾ ആ മഹാബലവാനായ യോഗേശ്വരൻ സ്കന്ദദേവനെ ഒന്നായി, രണ്ടായി, നാലായി, നൂറായി, ആയിരങ്ങളായി ദർശിച്ചു തിരിച്ചറിയുന്നു. രാജാവേ, കാർത്തികേയന്റെ അഭിഷേകവൃത്താന്തം ഞാൻ നിനക്കു പറഞ്ഞു. ഇനി സരസ്വതിയുടെ ആ ശ്രേഷ്ഠ തീർത്ഥത്തിന്റെ പുണ്യത്വം കേൾക്കുക.

Word by Word

• {'mahābalī': 'very mighty, of great strength', 'yogeśvara': 'lord/master of yogic power

• a supreme divine adept', 'skandadeva': 'Skanda, the god (also Kārtikeya)', 'lokaḥ': 'people

• the world (here: people in the world)', 'rūpa': 'form, manifestation, appearance', 'ekam / dve / catvāri': 'one / two / four', 'śatāni': 'hundreds', 'sahasrāṇi': 'thousands', 'paśyanti': 'they see, behold', 'jānanti': 'they know, recognize, understand', 'etat': 'this (account)', 'te': 'to you', 'kathitam': 'told, narrated', 'rājan': 'O king', 'kārtikeyābhiṣecanam': 'the consecration/anointing (abhiṣeka) of Kārtikeya', 'śṛṇu': 'listen', 'caiva': 'and indeed

• also', 'sarasvatyāḥ': 'of Sarasvatī (the river/goddess)', 'tīrthavaryasya': 'of the best/excellent tīrtha (sacred ford/pilgrimage site)', 'puṇyatām': 'holiness, sanctity, merit-conferring nature'}

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Skanda
• Kārtikeya
• Sarasvatī
• tīrtha (sacred ford/pilgrimage site)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse emphasizes two linked ideas: the deity’s capacity to be perceived in many manifestations, and the ethical-religious turn from wonder to practice—listening about a tīrtha’s sanctity encourages reverence, self-purification, and merit through remembrance and pilgrimage.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana concludes the episode about Kārtikeya/Skanda’s consecration and signals a transition to the next topic: the holiness of a foremost Sarasvatī tīrtha, continuing the king-directed instruction through sacred history and place.