वेतालयक्षकूष्माण्डैर्द्वन्द्वालोकनसादरैः । आयुधापातरक्षार्थं गृहीताद्रितटैर्वृतम् ॥ १६ ॥
vētālayakṣakūṣmāṇḍairdvandvālōkanasādaraiḥ | āyudhāpātarakṣārthaṁ gṛhītādritaṭairvṛtam || 16 ||
Translation
ringed by vetālas, yakṣas and kūṣmāṇḍas, keen to watch the duels, who had taken to the mountain slopes for shelter from falling weapons;
Word by word
- vētāla
- by vetālas
- yakṣa
- yakṣas
- kūṣmāṇḍair
- (kūṣmāṇḍaiḥ) and kūṣmāṇḍas
- dvandva
- the duels
- ālōkana
- to watch
- sādaraiḥ
- keen
- āyudha
- of weapons
- āpāta
- from the fall
- rakṣā
- shelter
- arthaṁ
- for
- gṛhīta
- who had taken to
- adri
- the mountain
- taṭair
- (taṭaiḥ) slopes
- vṛtam
- ringed
Meaning
The lesser spirits watch from a distance: vetālas (spirits that haunt corpses), yakṣas, and kūṣmāṇḍas (a kind of goblin attending on Śiva). They love a fight but not its stray arrows, so they sit on the mountainsides, like spectators who keep to the back rows.