Shloka 79

Kārttikeya-Abhiṣecana: Mātṛgaṇa-Nāma Saṃkīrtana and Skanda’s Commission

Devanagari script

वक्त्रैर्ननाविधैयें तु शूणु ताउज्जनमेजय । कूर्मकुक्कुटवकत्रा श्नव शशोलूकमुखास्तथा

Transliteration

vaktrair nānāvidhaiḥ ye tu śṛṇu tān ujjana-mejaya | kūrma-kukkuṭa-vaktrāḥ śvāna-śaśolūka-mukhās tathā ||

Translation

ไวศัมปายนะกล่าวว่า— “โอ้ ชนเมชยะ! จงฟังเถิดถึงเหล่าสัตว์ผู้มีพักตร์นานาประการ—บางตนมีพักตร์ดุจเต่าและไก่, บางตนมีปากดุจสุนัข กระต่าย และนกเค้าแมว.”

Word by Word

वक्त्रैःwith faces/mouths

नानाविधैःof many kinds/various

इयम्this (she/this one)

तुbut/indeed

शृणुhear (listen)

तत्that (thing)

उज्जनमेजयO Janamejaya (epithet: noble Janamejaya)

कूर्मकुक्कुटवक्त्राःhaving faces like tortoises and cocks

श्वानवक्त्राःdog-faced

शशोलूकमुखाःhaving faces like hares and owls

तथाlikewise/also

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Janamejaya

kūrma (tortoise)

kukkuṭa (cock/rooster)

śvāna (dog)

śaśa (hare)

ulūka (owl)

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?

The verse underscores the Mahābhārata’s use of extraordinary and unsettling imagery to convey the moral and psychological atmosphere of war—where disorder, fear, and ominous signs accompany adharma and impending destruction.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana continues describing strange beings with various animal-like faces, addressing King Janamejaya directly, as part of a larger account of ominous or terrifying phenomena connected with the events of the war.