Shloka 20
Duryodhana Seized by Citraseṇa; Kaurava Petition to Yudhiṣṭhira (दुर्योधनापहारः / चित्रसेनगन्धर्वग्रहणम्)
स्कन्द उवाच प्रजा वो द्मि कष्ट तु भवतीभिरुदाह्ृतम् परिरक्षत भद्ठे व: प्रजा: साधु नमस्कृता:,स्कन्द बोले--देवियो! आपलोगोंने यह दुःखकी बात कही है, तो भी मैं आपको पहलेकी मातृकाओंकी संतानको अर्पित कर देता हूँ; परंतु आपलोग उन सबकी रक्षा करें; इसीसे आपका भला होगा। मैं आपको सादर नमस्कार करता हूँ
Skanda uvāca—prajā vo dadmi; kaṣṭaṃ tu bhavatībhir udāhṛtam. Parirakṣata, bhadre vaḥ, prajāḥ; sādhu namaskṛtāḥ.
Wika ni Skanda: “O mga mapalad na ginang, mabigat at mapanglaw ang inyong sinabi. Gayunman, ipinagkakaloob ko sa inyo ang mga supling na inyong hinihingi—ang mga anak ng mga Mātṛkā noong una. Ngunit ingatan ninyo silang mabuti; doon kayo mapapabuti. Ako’y yumuyuko sa inyo nang may nararapat na paggalang.”
स्कन्द उवाच
Educational Q&A
Power or entitlement must be matched by responsibility: if one receives charge over vulnerable lives (children/progeny), one’s dharma is to protect and nurture them; welfare (śreyas) follows from guardianship performed rightly.
Skanda responds to a group of goddesses (implicitly the Mātr̥kās) who have expressed a troubling concern. He grants them the progeny/children in question and instructs them to safeguard those children, concluding with a respectful salutation.