Shloka 20
आन्ध्रकाश्च पुलिन्दाश्न किराताश्रोग्रविक्रमा: । म्लेच्छाश्व पर्वतीयाश्व॒ सागरानूपवासिन:
āndhrāś ca pulindāś ca kirātāś cogra-vikramāḥ | mlecchāś ca parvatīyāś ca sāgarānūpa-vāsinaḥ ||
Sañjaya sprach: „Und da waren auch die Āndhras, die Pulindas und die Kirātas von wilder Kampfkraft; ebenso die Mlecchas — Bergleute — und jene, die am Meer und in sumpfigen Niederungen wohnen.“
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the vast, multi-regional scale of the war: many peoples—forest, mountain, coastal, and marshland dwellers—are drawn into the conflict. Ethically, it highlights how warfare in the epic engulfs diverse communities, not only the central royal lineages.
Sañjaya is cataloguing the various groups present in the armies, emphasizing their fearsome martial capacity and their wide geographic origins (mountains, seacoasts, and wetlands).