Shloka 16

Duryodhana Seized by Citraseṇa; Kaurava Petition to Yudhiṣṭhira (दुर्योधनापहारः / चित्रसेनगन्धर्वग्रहणम्)

Devanagari script

मातर ऊचु: यास्तु ता मातर: पूर्व लोकस्यास्य प्रकल्पिता: । अस्माकं तु भवेत्‌ स्थान तासां चैव न तद्‌ भवेत्‌,माताओंने कहा--(ब्राह्मी, माहेश्वरी आदि) सुप्रसिद्ध लोकमाताएँ जो पहलेसे इस सम्पूर्ण जगत॒की माताओंके स्थानपर प्रतिष्ठित हों, (वे अपना पद छोड़ दें।) उनके उस स्थानपर अब हमारा अधिकार हो जाय। उनका उसपर कोई अधिकार न रहे

Transliteration

mātara ūcuḥ | yāstu tā mātaraḥ pūrva lokasyāsya prakalpitāḥ | asmākaṃ tu bhavet sthānaṃ tāsāṃ caiva na tad bhavet ||

Translation

మాతృగణం చెప్పింది—“ఈ లోకానికి ముందుగా నియమించబడి స్థాపితమైన మాతల స్థానము ఇప్పుడు మాకే కలగాలి; ఆ స్థానం ఇక వారికి ఉండకూడదు.”

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'mātaraḥ', 'definition': 'the Mothers

• divine mother-goddesses (a collective group)'}, {'term': 'ūcuḥ', 'definition': 'said

• spoke (perfect tense, 3rd person plural)'}, {'term': 'yāḥ tu tāḥ', 'definition': 'those indeed (emphatic reference to a known group)'}, {'term': 'pūrva', 'definition': 'formerly

• earlier'}, {'term': 'lokasya asya', 'definition': 'of this world'}, {'term': 'prakalpitāḥ', 'definition': 'appointed, established, instituted (as by ordinance/arrangement)'}, {'term': 'asmākam', 'definition': 'of us

• our'}, {'term': 'bhavet', 'definition': 'may it be

• should become'}, {'term': 'sthānam', 'definition': 'place, station, office, status'}, {'term': 'tāsām', 'definition': 'of them (feminine plural genitive)'}, {'term': 'na tat bhavet', 'definition': 'let that not be (theirs)

Speaker

स्कन्द उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Skanda
• the Mothers (Mātaraḥ / divine Mothers of the world)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights a tension between established cosmic order (those already appointed to a role) and the desire to displace it through claim and ambition, raising an ethical question about legitimacy versus mere assertion of right.

What is happening in the narrative?

A group called the “Mothers” speak, referring to earlier world-mothers already installed in their positions, and demand that those positions be transferred to themselves so that the former holders no longer retain that authority.