Mahabharata 9.44.1 — Shalya Parva, Adhyaya 44, Shloka 1

कार्त्तिकेयाभिषेकः — Consecration of Kārttikeya and the Enumeration of His Retinue

Devanagari script

ऑपनआक्रात बा अं: 2 चतुश्नत्वारिशो< ध्याय: कुमार कार्तिकेयका प्राकट्य और उनके अभिषेककी तैयारी जनमेजय उवाच सरस्वत्या: प्रभावो<यमुक्तस्ते द्विजसत्तम । कुमारस्याभिषेकं तु ब्रह्मन्‌ व्याख्यातुमहसि

Transliteration

janamejaya uvāca | sarasvatyāḥ prabhāvo ’yam uktaḥ te dvijasattama | kumārasya abhiṣekaṃ tu brahman vyākhyātum arhasi ||

Translation

جنمیجَے نے کہا—اے بہترین دِویج! آپ نے مجھے سرسوتی کی یہ شان و تاثیر بیان کی۔ اے برہمن! اب کُمار کارتّیکَیَ کے ابھیشیک (تقدیس) کا—اور اس کی تیاری کا—تفصیلی بیان کیجیے۔

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'janamejaya uvāca', 'definition': 'Janamejaya said'}, {'term': 'sarasvatyāḥ', 'definition': 'of Sarasvatī (the sacred river/goddess of speech and learning)'}, {'term': 'prabhāvaḥ', 'definition': 'power, majesty, extraordinary efficacy'}, {'term': 'ayam', 'definition': 'this'}, {'term': 'uktaḥ te', 'definition': 'has been told to you / told by you to me (context: ‘you have told me’)'}, {'term': 'dvija-sattama', 'definition': 'best among the twice-born

• an honorific for a Brahmin sage'}, {'term': 'kumārasya', 'definition': 'of Kumāra (a divine youth

• epithet of Kārttikeya/Skanda)'}, {'term': 'abhiṣekam', 'definition': 'consecration, anointing, ceremonial installation'}, {'term': 'tu', 'definition': 'but/now (marks transition to the next topic)'}, {'term': 'brahman', 'definition': 'O Brahmin

• respectful address to the sage'}, {'term': 'vyākhyātum', 'definition': 'to explain, to expound'}, {'term': 'arhasi', 'definition': 'you ought to / you are fit to'}]

Speaker

जनमेजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Janamejaya
• Sarasvatī
• Kumāra (Kārttikeya/Skanda)
• Brahmin sage (addressed as dvijasattama)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse models dhārmic inquiry: a listener respectfully acknowledges what has been taught and then requests the next topic. It also highlights the ethical-religious importance of sacred power (prabhāva) and proper consecration (abhiṣeka) as legitimizing forces in tradition.

What is happening in the narrative?

Janamejaya, hearing about the greatness of Sarasvatī, asks the sage to continue by describing the preparations and details of Kumāra Kārttikeya’s consecration ceremony.