Shloka 14

द्वैतवन-सरः प्रवेशविघ्नः

Dvaītavana Lake: Obstructed Entry

Devanagari script

षण्णां तु प्रवरं तस्य शीर्षाणामिह शब्द्यते । शक्ति येनासृजद्‌ दिव्यां भद्रशाख इति सम ह,स्कन्दके छहों मस्तकोंमें वही सर्वश्रेष्ठ बताया जाता है। उन्होंने दिव्यशक्तिका प्रयोग किया था; इसलिये उनका नाम भद्रशाख हुआ

Transliteration

ṣaṇṇāṃ tu pravaraṃ tasya śīrṣāṇām iha śabdyate | śaktiṃ yenāsṛjad divyāṃ bhadraśākha iti saṃjñitaḥ ||

Translation

മാർക്കണ്ഡേയൻ പറഞ്ഞു—അവന്റെ ആറു ശിരസ്സുകളിൽ ഒന്നിനെയാണ് ഇവിടെ ശ്രേഷ്ഠമെന്ന് പറയുന്നത്. ദിവ്യശക്തി സൃഷ്ടിച്ച/പ്രയോഗിച്ചതു കൊണ്ടു അവൻ ‘ഭദ്രശാഖ’ എന്ന നാമത്തിൽ പ്രസിദ്ധനായി.

Word by Word

षण्णाम्of six

तुbut/indeed

प्रवरम्the best, the foremost

तस्यof him/of that

शीर्षाणाम्of the heads

इहhere/in this context

शब्द्यतेis called/is spoken of

शक्तिम्power; (divine) spear/weapon

येनby which/with which

असृजत्created/produced

दिव्याम्divine

भद्रशाखःBhadrashākha (one having auspicious branches; proper name/epithet)

इतिthus/so (quotative)

सम्together; completely (as preverb/particle)

हindeed (emphatic particle)

Speaker

मार्कण्डेय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Mārkaṇḍeya

Bhadraśākha

Skanda (implied by the six heads context)

divine śakti (power/weapon)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how extraordinary capability (divine śakti) becomes the basis for recognition and naming: excellence is identified, remembered, and ethically framed through the deeds or powers one manifests.

What is happening in the narrative?

Mārkaṇḍeya is describing a figure associated with six heads (contextually Skanda) and notes that one head is regarded as foremost; because a divine śakti was produced/used through him, he bears the epithet ‘Bhadraśākha.’