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

এরপর সূর্যদেব পুণ্য ও শ্রেষ্ঠ পর্বতের আড়ালে অস্ত গেলেন। তখন সকলেই স্নান করে শুদ্ধ হয়ে রাত্রিকালোপযোগী কর্ম—সায়ংসন্ধ্যা-বন্দনাদি—আচরণ করল॥

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.