Shloka 13

कार्त्तिकेयाभिषेकः — Consecration of Kārttikeya and the Enumeration of His Retinue

Devanagari script

त॑ प्रभावं समालक्ष्य तस्य बालस्य कृत्तिका: । परं विस्मयमापचन्ना देव्यो दिव्यवपुर्धरा:,वे दिव्य रूपधारिणी छहों कृत्तिका देवियाँ उस बालकका वह प्रभाव देखकर अत्यन्त आश्चर्यसे चकित हो उठीं

Transliteration

taṁ prabhāvaṁ samālakṣya tasya bālasya kṛttikāḥ | paraṁ vismayam āpannā devyo divya-vapur-dharāḥ ||

Translation

వైశంపాయనుడు చెప్పెను—ఆ బాలుని అసాధారణ ప్రభావమును చూచి, దివ్యరూపధారిణులైన ఆరు కృత్తికా దేవతలు పరమ ఆశ్చర్యమునకు లోనయ్యిరి.

Word by Word

तत्that (it)

प्रभावम्splendor, power, influence

समालक्ष्यhaving observed, having noticed

तस्यof him/that

बालस्यof the boy/child

कृत्तिकाःthe Kṛttikās (Pleiades nymphs)

परम्great, extreme

विस्मयम्astonishment, wonder

आपचन्they felt/experienced (lit. cooked up/produced within)

देव्यःthe goddesses

दिव्य-वपुः-धराःbearing a divine body/form

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Kṛttikāḥ (the six Kṛttikā goddesses)

the child (bāla)

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?

Genuine greatness (prabhāva) commands respect naturally: even divine beings respond with humility and awe when confronted with true, destined power, reminding the listener to honor spiritual potency rather than judge by age or appearance.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana narrates that the six Kṛttikā goddesses, upon witnessing the remarkable power of a certain child, become intensely astonished—highlighting the child’s exceptional, almost superhuman stature within the unfolding episode.