Shloka 22

Śākadvīpa–Pramāṇa–Varṇana

Measurements and Description of Śākadvīpa

Devanagari script

उष्णात्‌ पर: प्रावरक: प्रावारादन्धकारक: । अन्धकारकदेशात्‌ तु मुनिदेश: पर: स्मृत:,उष्णके बाद प्रावरक, प्रावरकके बाद अन्धकारक और अन्धकारकके बाद उत्तम मुनिदेश बताया गया है

Transliteration

uṣṇāt paraḥ prāvarakaḥ prāvārād andhakārakaḥ | andhakārakadeśāt tu munideśaḥ paraḥ smṛtaḥ ||

Translation

Sañjaya said: Beyond the region called Uṣṇa lies Prāvaraka; beyond Prāvara lies Andhakāraka; and beyond Andhakāraka is said to be the excellent land known as Munideśa.

Word by Word

• उष्णात्: from (the region called) Uṣṇa / from the hot (region)
• उष्णात्: Apadana
• Type: Noun/Adjective
• Root: उष्ण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Ablative, Singular

• परः: next, beyond
• परः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• प्रावरकः: (the region named) Prāvaraka
• प्रावरकः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्रावरक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• प्रावारात्: from Prāvāra
• प्रावारात्: Apadana
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्रावार (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Ablative, Singular

• अन्धकारकः: (the region named) Andhakāraka
• अन्धकारकः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: अन्धकारक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• अन्धकारक-देशात्: from the country/region of Andhakāraka
• अन्धकारक-देशात्: Apadana
• Type: Noun
• Root: अन्धकारकदेश (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Ablative, Singular

• तु: but, and then
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु

• मुनि-देशः: the country/region of sages (Munideśa)
• मुनि-देशः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: मुनिदेश (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• परः: next, beyond
• परः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• स्मृतः: is said/remembered (as)
• Type: Verb
• Root: स्मृ (धातु) → स्मृत (कृदन्त)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular, क्त (past passive participle)

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Uṣṇa (region)
• Prāvaraka (region)
• Prāvara (region)
• Andhakāraka (region)
• Munideśa (region; land of sages)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse presents a graded sequence of regions—moving from ‘heat’ and ‘darkness’ toward ‘Munideśa,’ the land associated with sages—implying a symbolic progression from harsher or obscuring conditions to a more elevated, contemplative domain.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya is describing successive territories by naming what lies beyond what, giving Dhṛtarāṣṭra (and the listener) a structured sense of distant regions and their traditional ordering.