Shloka 16

Varuṇābhiṣeka–Agni-anveṣaṇa–Kaubera-tīrtha

Varuṇa’s Consecration; Search for Agni; Kaubera Sacred Site

Devanagari script

उत्क्राथिनी जलेला च महावेगा च कड़कणा । मनोजवा कण्टकिनी प्रधघसा पूतना तथा

Transliteration

utkrāthinī jalelā ca mahāvegā ca kaḍakaṇā | manojavā kaṇṭakinī pradhaghasā pūtanā tathā

Translation

ไวศัมปายนะกล่าวว่า— “(มี) อุตกราถินี, ชเลลา, มหาวีกา, กฑกณา; มโนชวา, กัณฑกินี, ประธฆสา และ ปูตนา ด้วย”

Word by Word

उत्क्राथिनीUtkrāthinī (a female demoness/name)

जलेलाJalelā (a female demoness/name)

चand

महावेगाMahāvegā (great-swift; a female demoness/name)

चand

कड़कणाKaḍakaṇā (a female demoness/name)

मनोजवाManojavā (mind-swift; a female demoness/name)

कण्टकिनीKaṇṭkinī (thorny/spiky; a female demoness/name)

प्रधघसाPradhaghasā (a female demoness/name)

पूतनाPūtanā (the demoness Pūtanā)

तथाlikewise/also

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Utkrāthinī

Jalelā

Mahāvegā

Kaḍakaṇā

Manojavā

Kaṇṭakinī

Pradhaghasā

Pūtanā

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 functions as an ominous catalogue: in the Mahābhārata’s war setting, the eruption of terrifying forces and portents is presented as accompanying large-scale violence and moral collapse, reminding the listener that adharma in action draws in भय (fear), अशिव (inauspiciousness), and predatory energies.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana is listing a set of fierce female beings (rakṣasīs/ghoulish entities) by name. The sequence reads like a roll-call, intensifying the atmosphere around the battlefield events by invoking dreadful presences associated with carnage and inauspicious signs.