Shloka 18
ब्राह्मणपूजा-राजधर्मः | Royal Duty of Honoring Learned Brahmins
गड्जाया उत्तरे कूले वप्रान्ते राजसत्तम । गोमत्या दक्षिणे कूले शक्रस्येवामरावतीम्
Gaṅgāyā uttare kūle vaprānte rājasattama | Gomatīyā dakṣiṇe kūle Śakrasyevāmarāvatīm ||
Bhishma said: “O best of kings, that city lay along the northern bank of the Ganga, reaching to the very edge of its ramparts; and it extended as far as the southern bank of the Gomati. In splendour it seemed like Amaravati itself—the celestial city of Indra.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights an ideal of royal order and prosperity: a well-situated, well-fortified city is portrayed as worthy of comparison with the divine realm, implying that righteous governance can create near-celestial well-being in the human world.
Bhishma is describing a magnificent city’s location and extent—reaching from the northern bank of the Ganga to the southern bank of the Gomati—and praising its splendour by likening it to Indra’s Amaravati.