Shloka 21
Yuga-Lakṣaṇa and Varṣa-Pramāṇa Inquiry (युगलक्षण–वर्षप्रमाण–प्रश्न)
संजय उवाच सर्वेष्वेव महाराज द्वीपेषु कुरुनन्दन | गौर: कृष्णश्न वर्णो द्वौ तयोर्वर्णान्तरं नृप,संजयने कहा--महाराज कुरुनन्दन! सम्पूर्ण द्वीपोंमें गौर, कृष्ण तथा इन दोनों वर्णोका सम्मिश्रण देखा जाता है। भारत! यह पर्वत जिस कारणसे श्याम होकर दूसरोंमें भी श्यामता उत्पन्न करनेवाला हुआ, वह आपको बताता हूँ। यहाँ भगवान् श्रीकृष्ण निवास करते हैं; अतः उन्हींकी कान्तिसे यह (स्वयं भी) श्यामताको प्राप्त हुआ है (और अपने समीप रहनेवाली प्रजामें भी श्यामता उत्पन्न कर देता है)
sañjaya uvāca sarveṣv eva mahārāja dvīpeṣu kurunandana | gauraḥ kṛṣṇaś ca varṇo dvau tayoḥ varṇāntaraṃ nṛpa ||
Sañjaya said: “O great king, O joy of the Kurus, throughout all the islands (regions) there are seen two principal complexions—fair and dark—and also the intermediate shades between them. Thus, diversity of appearance is natural across the world.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights that fair, dark, and intermediate complexions occur naturally across the world’s regions; it normalizes human diversity and presents it as an observable feature of creation rather than a moral hierarchy.
Sañjaya addresses the king and makes a descriptive, world-spanning observation about the distribution of complexions across different dvīpas (regions), as part of a broader explanatory passage.