Shloka 13
Śākadvīpa–Pramāṇa–Varṇana
Measurements and Description of Śākadvīpa
चतुर्थ: पुष्पवान् नाम पञ्चमस्तु कुशेशय: । षष्ठो हरिगिरिराम षडेते पर्वतोत्तमा:
caturthaḥ puṣpavān nāma pañcamas tu kuśeśayaḥ | ṣaṣṭho harigirirāma ṣaḍete parvatottamāḥ | tṛtīyaṃ surathākāraṃ caturthaṃ kambalaṃ smṛtam | dhṛtimat pañcamaṃ varṣa ṣaṣṭhaṃ varṣa prabhākaram |
Sañjaya said: “Among them, the fourth is called Puṣpavān, the fifth Kuśeśaya, and the sixth Harigiri-rāma—these six are renowned as excellent mountains. Likewise, the third region is remembered as Surathākāra, the fourth as Kambala, the fifth as Dhṛtimat, and the sixth region as Prabhākara.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse is primarily descriptive rather than prescriptive: it models the epic’s concern for ordered knowledge—naming and classifying mountains and regions—supporting the larger narrative by situating events within a vast, structured world.
Sañjaya continues an enumeration, listing the names of certain ‘excellent mountains’ and then naming successive varṣas (regions), giving a catalog-like geographical/cosmographical description within Bhīṣma Parva.