Vamana Purana — Birth of Skanda (Kartikeya), Shloka 77

The Birth and Consecration of Skanda (Kartikeya) at Kurukshetra

Devanagari script

ऐरावत्याश्चतुर्द्दष्ट्रः षोडशाक्षो वितस्तया मार्जारं सौशिकी प्रादात् क्रथक्रौञ्चौ च गौतमी

Transliteration

airāvatyāścaturddaṣṭraḥ ṣoḍaśākṣo vitastayā mārjāraṃ sauśikī prādāt krathakrauñcau ca gautamī

Translation

จากแม่น้ำไอราวตี บังเกิด จตุรทัษฏระ; จากวิตัสตา บังเกิด โษฑศากษะ. แม่น้ำเสาษิกีให้กำเนิด มารฺชาระ; และแม่น้ำโคตมีให้กำเนิด กรถะ กับ เกราญจะ.

Word by Word

• airāvatyāḥ: of Airāvatī
• airāvatyāḥ: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/possessor)
• Type: Noun
• Root: airāvatī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine (स्त्रीलिङ्ग), Genitive (6th/षष्ठी), Singular (एकवचन)

• caturdaṣṭraḥ: Caturdaṣṭra (four-tusked; name)
• caturdaṣṭraḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: catur-daṣṭra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular (एकवचन)

• ṣoḍaśākṣaḥ: Ṣoḍaśākṣa (sixteen-eyed; name)
• ṣoḍaśākṣaḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ṣoḍaśa-akṣa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular (एकवचन)

• vitastayā: by Vitastā
• vitastayā: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vitastā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine (स्त्रीलिङ्ग), Instrumental (3rd/तृतीया), Singular (एकवचन)

• mārjāram: a cat / Mārjāra (name)
• mārjāram: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mārjāra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Accusative (2nd/द्वितीया), Singular (एकवचन)

• sauśikī: Sauśikī (name)
• sauśikī: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sauśikī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine (स्त्रीलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular (एकवचन)

• prādāt: gave
• prādāt: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: pra-dā (प्र + दा धातु)
• Form: Parasmaipada (परस्मैपद), Imperfect/Aorist-like preterite form (लङ्/लुङ् usage in Purāṇic style), 3rd Person (प्रथमपुरुष), Singular (एकवचन)

• kratha-krauñcau: Kratha and Krauñca (two names)
• kratha-krauñcau: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kratha + krauñca (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Accusative (2nd/द्वितीया), Dual (द्विवचन)

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/connector)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: Conjunction/particle (समुच्चयबोधक अव्यय)

• gautamī: Gautamī (name)
• gautamī: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: gautamī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine (स्त्रीलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular (एकवचन)

Speakers

• Narrator (Purāṇic voice) describing tīrtha-associated manifestations (speaker not explicit in the given excerpt).

Key Themes

• Tīrtha Mahimā (power of sacred rivers)
• Sacred geography as generative/cosmogonic agency
• Mythic etiology of named beings linked to rivers

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

{ "primaryRasa": "adbhuta", "secondaryRasa": "shanta", "rasaIntensity": 0, "emotionalArcPosition": "", "moodDescriptors": [] }

FAQs

Are these ‘gifts’ (prādāt) meant as literal donations or as mythic births/manifestations?

In this catalogue-style tīrtha passage, prādāt functions as ‘brought forth/produced’—an etiological mapping where rivers are treated as potent sources that manifest named beings, lineages, or emblematic figures.

Why do rivers ‘produce’ beings with unusual epithets like ‘four-tusked’ or ‘sixteen-eyed’?

Such epithets mark extraordinary, often semi-divine or symbolic entities. The text uses striking descriptors to signal the supernormal potency of the tīrtha and to make the geography memorable through mythic indexing.

What is the geographical significance of listing Airāvatī, Vitastā, Sauśikī, and Gautamī together?

The verse participates in a broader Purāṇic technique: stitching a pan-Indic sacred map by naming multiple rivers and attaching mythic ‘outputs’ to each, thereby sacralizing travel routes and regional waters through narrative association.