Shloka 28

Kurukṣetra–Samantapañcaka Māhātmya: King Kuru’s Ploughing and Indra’s Boon (प्रजापतेरुत्तरवेदिः समन्तपञ्चकं)

Devanagari script

समन्तपज्चकद्धारात्‌ ततो निष्क्रम्प माधव: । पप्रच्छर्षिगणान्‌ राम: कुरुक्षेत्रस्य यत्‌ फलम्‌,वहीं रहकर शत्रुओंको संताप देनेवाले बलरामजीने शल्यके मारे जानेका समाचार सुना था। वहाँ भी मधुवंशी बलरामने ब्राह्मणोंको अनेक प्रकारके दान दे समन्तपंचक द्वारसे निकलकर ऋषियोंसे कुरुक्षेत्रके सेवनका फल पूछा

Transliteration

samantapañcakaddhārāt tato niṣkramya mādhavaḥ | papraccharṣigaṇān rāmaḥ kurukṣetrasya yat phalam ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana sprach: Daraufhin zog Mādhava (Balarāma) durch das Tor von Samantapañcaka hinaus. Rāma befragte die versammelten Weisen nach der geistigen Frucht, die man durch den Aufenthalt in Kurukṣetra erlangt—um das Verdienst dieses heiligen Feldes zu verstehen, selbst während ringsum Nachrichten von Krieg und Tod erschollen.

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'समन्तपञ्चक (samantapañcaka)', 'definition': 'Samantapañcaka

• a sacred locality associated with Kurukṣetra (often treated as a tīrtha-region/gateway area)'}, {'term': 'द्वार (dvāra)', 'definition': 'gate, doorway, entrance/exit'}, {'term': 'ततः (tataḥ)', 'definition': 'then, thereafter'}, {'term': 'निष्क्रम्य (niṣkramya)', 'definition': 'having gone out, having departed'}, {'term': 'माधव (mādhava)', 'definition': 'Mādhava

• an epithet here for Balarāma (of the Madhu/Vṛṣṇi line)'}, {'term': 'राम (rāmaḥ)', 'definition': 'Rāma

• here Balarāma'}, {'term': 'पप्रच्छ (papraccha)', 'definition': 'asked, inquired'}, {'term': 'ऋषिगण (ṛṣigaṇa)', 'definition': 'group/assembly of sages'}, {'term': 'कुरुक्षेत्र (kurukṣetra)', 'definition': 'Kurukṣetra

• the Kuru field, both battlefield and sacred region'}, {'term': 'फल (phala)', 'definition': 'fruit, result

• spiritual merit (puṇya) in context'}, {'term': 'सेवन (sevana)', 'definition': 'resorting to, frequenting, dwelling in/visiting (implied by the question about its phala)'}]

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• वैशम्पायन (Vaiśampāyana)
• बलराम / राम / माधव (Balarāma)
• समन्तपञ्चक (Samantapañcaka)
• कुरुक्षेत्र (Kurukṣetra)
• ऋषिगण (assembly of sages)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even amid the violence and grief of war, the epic foregrounds dharmic orientation: one should seek guidance from realized sages and inquire into the spiritual consequences (phala) of places and actions. Kurukṣetra is presented not only as a battlefield but also as a sacred field where contact and conduct are believed to yield religious merit.

What is happening in the narrative?

After events surrounding the war (and in the broader context, hearing of Śalya’s death as noted in the accompanying prose), Balarāma leaves via the Samantapañcaka gateway and approaches a gathering of sages. He asks them what benefit accrues from resorting to or visiting Kurukṣetra.