Shloka 2
Adhyāya 52 (Sabhā-parva): Vidura Invites Yudhiṣṭhira to Hastināpura for the Dice Match
दुर्योधन बोला--अनघ! राजाओंद्वारा युधिष्ठिरके यज्ञके लिये दिये हुए जिस महान् धनका संग्रह वहाँ हुआ था, वह अनेक प्रकारका था। मैं उसका वर्णन करता हूँ, सुनिये ।। मेरुमन्दरयोर्मध्ये शैलोदामभितो नदीम् | ये ते कीचकवेणूनां छायां रम्यामुपासते
duryodhana uvāca—anagha! rājabhir yudhiṣṭhirasya yajñārthaṃ dattasya mahato dhanasya yatra saṃgraho ’bhavat sa nānāvīryaḥ (nānāvidhaḥ) । tasya varṇanaṃ karomi—śṛṇu । merumandarayor madhye śailodām abhito nadīm | ye te kīcakaveṇūnāṃ chāyāṃ ramyām upāsate ||
Duryodhana sprach: „O Tadelloser! Der gewaltige Reichtum, der dort zusammengetragen wurde—von vielen Königen für Yudhiṣṭhiras Opferhandlung dargebracht—war von mancherlei Art. Ich will ihn schildern; höre zu. Zwischen Meru und Mandara liegt der Fluss Śailodā; an seinen Ufern wohnen jene, die sich an dem lieblichen Schatten der kīcaka-Bambusse erfreuen.“
दुर्योधन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames immense ritual wealth as a public, kingly phenomenon—generated through alliances and recognition—while also hinting at the ethical danger of attachment: Duryodhana’s detailed attention to others’ prosperity becomes a seed for envy and conflict.
Duryodhana begins recounting the extraordinary riches assembled for Yudhiṣṭhira’s great sacrifice, shifting into a descriptive catalogue that includes far-off, almost mythic regions (Meru–Mandara and the Śailodā river) and their distinctive natural features.