Shloka 24

Yuga-Lakṣaṇa and Varṣa-Pramāṇa Inquiry (युगलक्षण–वर्षप्रमाण–प्रश्न)

Devanagari script

तेषां योजनविष्कम्भो द्विगुण: प्रविभागश: । वर्षाणि तेषु कौरव्य सप्तोक्तानि मनीषिभि:,इन सब पर्वतोंका विस्तार दूना होता गया है। कुरुनन्दन! मनीषी पुरुषोंने उन पर्वतोंके समीप सात वर्ष बताये हैं

Transliteration

teṣāṃ yojanaviṣkambho dviguṇaḥ pravibhāgaśaḥ | varṣāṇi teṣu kauravya saptoktāni manīṣibhiḥ ||

Translation

Sañjaya said: “In each successive division, the breadth of those mountains is described as becoming twice as great. O descendant of Kuru, the sages have declared that there are seven varṣas (great territorial regions) associated with them.”

Word by Word

तेषाम्of those

योजन-विष्कम्भःthe breadth/diameter (measured in yojanas)

द्विगुणःdouble

प्रविभागशःin due order; by successive divisions

वर्षाणिyears

तेषुamong/near those (therein)

कौरव्यO descendant of Kuru

सप्तseven

उक्तानिsaid/declared

मनीषिभिःby sages/wise men

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Dhṛtarāṣṭra (addressed as Kauravya)

manīṣis (sages/wise men)

yojana (unit of measure)

varṣas (seven great regions)

mountains (teṣām—those previously described)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse emphasizes reliance on received wisdom (manīṣis) and traditional cosmographic knowledge: measurements and divisions of the world are presented as authoritative descriptions, grounding the narrative in an ordered, knowable cosmos.

What is happening in the narrative?

Within Sañjaya’s report to Dhṛtarāṣṭra, the text shifts into a descriptive account of world-structure: the mountains’ breadth is said to double by successive divisions, and the sages’ enumeration of seven varṣas is cited.