Shloka 25

धृतराष्ट्राश्रमगमनम् — The Pandavas’ Procession to Dhritarashtra’s Hermitage

Devanagari script

अथ पुण्यं गिरिवरमस्तम भ्यगमद्‌ रवि: । ततः कृताभिषेकास्ते नैशं कर्म समाचरन्‌,तदनन्तर सूर्यदेव परम पवित्र अस्ताचलको जा पहुँचे। उस समय सब लोग स्नान करके सायंकालोचित संध्यावन्दन आदि कर्म करने लगे

Transliteration

atha puṇyaṃ girivaram astaṃ abhyagamad raviḥ | tataḥ kṛtābhiṣekās te naiśaṃ karma samācaran ||

Translation

قال فايشَمبايانا: ثمّ دنا الشمسُ من مغيبها وراء الجبل الأقدس والأفضل. وبعد ذلك، وقد اغتسلوا وتطهّروا، أدّوا أعمال المساء—كعبادة الشفق (ساندْهْيا-فَندَنا)—المناسبة لليل. ويُبرز هذا المشهد انضباط السلوك اليومي: فحتى في الشدّة والتحوّل تُصان الدهرما بالطقوس المنتظمة وبكبح النفس.

Word by Word

अथthen

पुण्यम्holy, sacred

गिरिवरम्the best of mountains

अस्तम्setting (west), sunset

अभ्यगमत्went to, approached

रविःthe sun

ततःthen, thereafter

कृताभिषेकाःhaving performed bathing/ablution (after bath)

तेthey

नैशम्evening (pertaining to night)

कर्मrite, duty

समाचरन्performed, carried out

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Ravi (Sūrya, the Sun)

girivara (a holy mountain; astācala implied as the western mountain of sunset)

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 highlights steadiness in dharma through daily discipline: purification by bathing and the timely performance of evening rites (sandhyā) are upheld as ethical-spiritual order, regardless of external circumstances.

What is happening in the narrative?

As the sun sets behind a sacred mountain, the group completes ritual bathing and begins the customary evening observances appropriate for nightfall, such as twilight worship.