Shloka 37

Kṛṣṇasya Dvārakā-praveśaḥ — Krishna’s Return to Dvārakā and the Raivataka Festival

Devanagari script

स तेन मार्गेण तदा नागलोकं विवेश ह । ददर्श नागलोकं॑ च योजनानि सहस्रश:,उसी मार्गसे उन्होंने नागलोकमें प्रवेश किया और देखा कि नागोंका लोक सहस्ोरों योजन विस्तृत है

Transliteration

sa tena mārgeṇa tadā nāgalokaṃ viveśa ha | dadarśa nāgalokaṃ ca yojanāni sahasraśaḥ ||

Translation

Auf eben diesem Weg trat er daraufhin in das Reich der Nāgas ein. Und er erblickte die Nāga-Welt, die sich über Tausende von Yojanas erstreckte — weit und grenzenlos.

Word by Word

सःhe

तेनby that

मार्गेणby the path/route

तदाthen

नागलोकम्the world/realm of the Nāgas

विवेशentered

हindeed (particle)

ददर्शsaw

नागलोकम्the Nāga-world

चand

योजनानिyojanas (units of distance)

सहस्रशःby thousands; in thousands

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Nāgaloka

Nāgas

mārga (path)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores the Mahābhārata’s sense of layered reality: beyond the human world lie vast, concealed domains. It invites humility before the cosmos and attentiveness to the unseen consequences and contexts that surround human action.

What is happening in the narrative?

A male figure (referred to simply as ‘he’) proceeds along a specified path and enters Nāgaloka. Upon entering, he observes that the Nāga realm is immense, extending for thousands of yojanas.