Shloka 16

Duryodhana’s Śaraṇāgati and the Pāṇḍavas’ Resolve

Gandharva Encounter

Devanagari script

स्त्रियो मानुषमांसादा वृद्धिका नाम नामत: । वृक्षेषु जातास्ता देव्यो नमस्कार्या: प्रजार्थिभि:,वृक्षोंपरसे गिरे हुए शुक्रसे 'वृद्धिका' नामवाली स्त्रियाँ उत्पन्न हुई हैं, जो मनुष्यका मांस भक्षण करनेवाली हैं। संतानकी इच्छा रखनेवाले लोगोंको इन देवियोंके आगे मस्तक झुकाना चाहिये

Transliteration

striyo mānuṣamāṁsādā vṛddhikā nāma nāmataḥ | vṛkṣeṣu jātās tā devyo namaskāryāḥ prajārthibhiḥ ||

Translation

‘वृद्धिका’ नावाने ओळखल्या जाणाऱ्या काही स्त्रिया आहेत; त्या मनुष्य-मांस भक्षण करणाऱ्या असून वृक्षांवर उत्पन्न झालेल्या आहेत. संतान इच्छिणाऱ्यांनी त्या देविंना नमस्कार करावा.

Word by Word

स्त्रियःwomen

मानुषमांसादाःeaters of human flesh

वृद्धिकाःVṛddhikās (name of the women)

नामname

नामतःby name; in name

वृक्षेषुin/on the trees

जाताःborn; arisen

ताःthose (women)

देव्यःgoddesses; divine ladies

नमस्कार्याःworthy to be saluted

प्रजार्थिभिःby those desiring offspring

Speaker

मार्कण्डेय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Mārkaṇḍeya

Vṛddhikā (female beings/deities)

trees (vṛkṣa)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

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 frames certain fearsome beings as ‘devīs’ whose power can be approached through reverence, especially by those seeking progeny—suggesting that even terrifying forces are to be ritually acknowledged and propitiated within a dharmic worldview.

What is happening in the narrative?

Mārkaṇḍeya describes a class of beings called Vṛddhikā—women who eat human flesh and are said to be born on trees—and instructs that people desiring children should bow to them as divine powers.