Shloka 2

स्कन्दसेनापत्याभिषेकः

Skanda’s Consecration as Devasenāpati

Devanagari script

युधिछिर उवाच कथमन्निर्वनं यातः कथं चाप्यज्िरा: पुरा । नष्टेउग्नौ हव्यमवहदन्निर्भूत्वा महाद्युति:,युधिष्ठिरने पूछा--मुने! पूर्वकालमें अग्निदेवने किस कारणसे जलमें प्रवेश किया था? और अग्निके अदृश्य हो जानेपर महातेजस्वी अंगिरा ऋषिने किस प्रकार अग्नि होकर देवताओंके लिये हविष्य पहुँचानेका कार्य किया?

Transliteration

yudhiṣṭhira uvāca | katham agnir vanaṃ yātaḥ kathaṃ cāpy aṅgirāḥ purā | naṣṭe 'gnau havyam avahad agnir bhūtvā mahādyutiḥ ||

Translation

坚战说道：“圣者啊！阿耆尼为何进入森林，又为何在往昔投身于水中？当阿耆尼隐没不见之时，光辉炽盛的圣仙安吉罗（Aṅgirā）如何化作阿耆尼，为诸天运送祭供（havis）？”

Word by Word

युधिष्ठिरःYudhiṣṭhira

उवाचsaid

कथम्how?

अग्निःAgni (fire-god)

वनम्to the forest

यातःgone

कथम्how?

चand

अपिalso

अङ्गिराःAṅgiras (the sage)

पुराformerly, in olden times

नष्टेwhen (it was) vanished

अग्नौwhen Agni (fire) was (gone); in/with regard to Agni

हव्यम्oblation, offering

अवहत्carried, conveyed

अग्निःAgni (as fire)

भूत्वाhaving become

महाद्युतिःof great splendor

Speaker

युधिछिर उवाच

Characters & Entities

Yudhiṣṭhira

Agni

Aṅgirā (Aṅgiras)

the gods (devāḥ)

havyam (oblations)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse foregrounds the indispensability of yajña and the continuity of sacred duty: even when the visible agent (Agni) is absent, the cosmic and ethical order is maintained through a qualified substitute (Aṅgirā), showing that dharma is upheld by divine and ṛṣi power.

What is happening in the narrative?

Yudhiṣṭhira questions the sage about an earlier episode: why Agni entered the forest and then the waters, and how, after Agni’s disappearance, the radiant ṛṣi Aṅgirā assumed Agni’s role to convey offerings to the gods.