Shloka 17
Varuṇābhiṣeka–Agni-anveṣaṇa–Kaubera-tīrtha
Varuṇa’s Consecration; Search for Agni; Kaubera Sacred Site
केशयन्त्री ब्रुटिरवामा क्रोशनाथ तडित्प्रभा । मन्दोदरी च मुण्डी च कोटरा मेघवाहिनी
keśayantī bruṭiravāmā krośanātha taḍitprabhā | mandodarī ca muṇḍī ca koṭarā meghavāhinī ||
Vaiśampāyana berkata: “(Ada) Keśayantī, Bruṭiravāmā, Krośanāthā, Taḍitprabhā; dan juga Mandodarī, Muṇḍī, Koṭarā, serta Meghavāhinī.” Dalam suasana perang yang muram, penceritaan ini menyenaraikan sosok-sosok perempuan yang garang dan membawa alamat buruk—nama-nama yang membayangkan rambut kusut, ratapan, sinar kilat, kepala botak, kekosongan, dan kegelapan pembawa awan—menguatkan peringatan moral bahawa keganasan yang digerakkan oleh adharma berakhir pada ngeri, dukacita, dan petanda sial.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
By foregrounding terrifying, inauspicious figures through evocative names, the passage reinforces a Mahābhārata ethic: when conflict is driven by adharma, its fruits are dread, disorder, and collective lamentation—signals that moral rupture manifests as ominous experience.
Vaiśampāyana is listing a set of named female beings (often understood as ominous or fearsome presences) appearing in the war context, heightening the sense of impending calamity and the dreadful atmosphere surrounding the battlefield events.