Shloka 12

Adhyāya 31: Rājasūya-samāgama — The Gathering of Kings and the Ordering of Hospitality

Devanagari script

स विजित्य दुराधर्ष भीष्मकं माद्रिनन्दन: । कोसलाधिपतिं चैव तथा वेणातटाधिपम्‌,माद्रीनन्दनने उस संग्राममें दुर्ध्ष वीर भीष्मकको परास्त करके कोसलाधिपति, वेणानदीके तटवर्ती प्रदेशोंके स्वामी, कान्तारक तथा पूर्वकोसलके राजाओंको भी समरमें पराजित किया। तत्पश्चात्‌ नाटकेयों और हेरम्बकोंको भी युद्धमें हराया

Transliteration

sa vijitya durādharṣaṃ bhīṣmakaṃ mādrīnandanaḥ | kosalādhipatiṃ caiva tathā veṇātaṭādhipam ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana sprach: Der Sohn der Mādrī besiegte den schwer zu bezwingenden Helden Bhīṣmaka und schlug in der Schlacht auch den Herrn von Kośala sowie den Gebieter der Gebiete am Ufer der Veṇā.

Word by Word

[{'term''vijitya (विजित्य)', 'meaning': 'having conquered

having defeated'}, {'term''durādharṣa (दुराधर्ष)', 'meaning': 'hard to assail

difficult to overcome'}, {'term''bhīṣmaka (भीष्मक)', 'meaning': 'Bhīṣmaka (a king

proper name)'}, {'term''mādrīnandana (माद्रिनन्दन)', 'meaning': 'son of Mādrī

typically Nakula or Sahadeva (herethe conqueror)'}, {'term': 'kosalādhipati (कोसलाधिपति)', 'meaning': 'lord/king of Kośala'}, {'term': 'caiva (चैव)', 'meaning': 'and indeed

and also'}, {'term''tathā (तथा)', 'meaning': 'likewise

also'}, {'term''veṇātaṭādhipa (वेणातटाधिप)', 'meaning': 'ruler of the riverbank region of the Veṇā (Veṇā-taṭa)'}]

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Mādrīnandana (son of Mādrī)

Bhīṣmaka

Kośala

Kośalādhipati (king of Kośala)

Veṇā (river)

Veṇā-taṭa (Veṇā riverbank region)

Veṇātaṭādhipa (ruler of Veṇā-taṭa)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the kṣatriya-world ethic where sovereignty is asserted through conquest; it implicitly raises the Mahābhārata’s larger moral tension between political ambition and the dharmic costs of violence and domination.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana narrates that the son of Mādrī continues a campaign of victories, defeating the formidable Bhīṣmaka and then overcoming the king of Kośala and the ruler of the Veṇā riverbank region.