Shloka 5

Varuṇābhiṣeka–Agni-anveṣaṇa–Kaubera-tīrtha

Varuṇa’s Consecration; Search for Agni; Kaubera Sacred Site

Devanagari script

वसुदामा च दामा च विशोका नन्दिनी तथा । एकचूडा महाचूडा चक्रनेमिश्न भारत

Transliteration

vasudāmā ca dāmā ca viśokā nandinī tathā | ekacūḍā mahācūḍā cakranemiś ca bhārata ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana sprach: „O Bhārata, (da waren) Vasudāmā und Dāmā; auch Viśokā und Nandinī; ebenso Ekacūḍā, Mahācūḍā und Cakranemi.“

Word by Word

वसुदामाVasudāman (proper name)

चand

दामाDāman/Dāmā (proper name)

चand

विशोकाViśokā (the sorrowless; proper name)

नन्दिनीNandinī (proper name)

तथाalso/likewise

एकचूडाEkacūḍā (one-crested; proper name)

महाचूडाMahācūḍā (great-crested; proper name)

चक्रनेमिःCakranemi (wheel-rim; proper name)

भारतO Bhārata

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Bhārata

Vasudāmā

Dāmā

Viśokā

Nandinī

Ekacūḍā

Mahācūḍā

Cakranemi

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 is primarily documentary rather than didactic: it exemplifies the Mahābhārata’s ethical-historical impulse to preserve names and affiliations. Such catalogues remind the reader that war implicates many lives beyond the central heroes, widening moral attention to the broader human (and epic) community.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana is listing a sequence of proper names as part of a larger enumeration in Śalya Parva, chapter 46. The verse continues a roll-call style passage, identifying individuals (or named beings) associated with the unfolding war narrative.