Shloka 19
Jaratkāru-nirukti and Parīkṣit’s forest encounter (जরত्कारुनिरुक्तिः—परिक्षिद्वनप्रसङ्गः)
इमां महीं शैलवनोपपन्नां ससागरग्रामविहारपत्तनाम् | त्वं शेष सम्यक् चलितां यथावत् संगृह तिष्तस्व यथाचला स्यात्,शेषनाग! पर्वत, वन, सागर, ग्राम, विहार और नगरोंसहित यह समूची पृथ्वी प्रायः हिलती-डुलती रहती है। तुम इसे भलीभाँति धारण करके इस प्रकार स्थित रहो, जिससे यह पूर्णतः अचल हो जाय
imāṃ mahīṃ śailavanopapannāṃ sasāgaragrāmavihārapattanām | tvaṃ śeṣa samyak calitāṃ yathāvat saṃgṛha tiṣṭhasva yathācalā syāt, śeṣanāga |
“This earth—endowed with mountains and forests, and furnished with oceans, villages, pleasure-groves, and cities—keeps trembling and shifting. O Śeṣa, uphold her rightly and stand firm, so that she may become completely unmoving, O serpent Śeṣa.”
शेष उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights dhāraṇa—steadfast support and responsibility. Śeṣa is urged to hold the trembling earth firmly so that it becomes stable, symbolizing the ethical ideal that the world is sustained by disciplined steadiness and proper performance of one’s appointed duty.
In the Adi Parva’s cosmological setting, Śeṣa is addressed and instructed to bear the entire earth—complete with mountains, forests, oceans, villages, parks, and cities—so that its shaking ceases and it remains fixed and secure.