Shloka 35

Yuga-Lakṣaṇa and Varṣa-Pramāṇa Inquiry (युगलक्षण–वर्षप्रमाण–प्रश्न)

Devanagari script

शकक्‍्यन्ते परिसंख्यातुं पुण्यास्ता हि सरिद्वरा: । तव पुण्या जनपदाश्षत्वारो लोकसम्मता:

Transliteration

śakyante parisaṅkhyātuṃ puṇyāstā hi saridvarāḥ | tava puṇyā janapadāś catvāro lokasammatāḥ ||

Translation

قال سنجيا: تلك الأنهار السامية المقدّسة لا تُحصى حقًّا؛ فعدُّها يتجاوز كل مقدار. وفي تلك الناحية الجزيرية أيضًا أربعُ أقاليمَ طاهرة، مشهورةٌ مكرَّمةٌ عند الناس—أراضٍ اكتسبت الفضل ببركة مياهها وبالحياة القويمة المرتبطة بها.

Word by Word

• {'śakyante': 'are possible (to be done)

• can be', 'parisaṅkhyātum': 'to count completely

• to enumerate', 'puṇyāḥ': 'holy, meritorious, sacred', 'tāḥ': 'those', 'hi': 'indeed, certainly', 'sarid-varāḥ': 'the best of rivers

• excellent rivers', 'tava': 'your (addressed to Dhṛtarāṣṭra)', 'janapadāḥ': 'countries, provinces, territories', 'catvāraḥ': 'four', 'loka-sammatāḥ': 'approved by the world

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Dhṛtarāṣṭra (implied by 'tava')
• sarid (rivers)
• janapada (provinces/territories)
• dvīpa (island/continent; implied by context)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse emphasizes the immeasurable abundance of sacred sources of merit—especially rivers and holy regions—suggesting that dharmic value is not confined to a single place but is vast, revered, and beyond easy enumeration.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya continues a descriptive account of a sacred island/region, telling Dhṛtarāṣṭra that the holy rivers there are too numerous to count and that the area contains four world-honored, sacred provinces.