Shloka 22
Chapter 7: Dvīpa–Varṣa–Meru-varṇana
Description of the Dvīpa, Varṣas, and Mount Meru
अरत्नीनां सहस्नं च शतानि दश पञठ्च च । परिणाहस्तु वृक्षस्थ फलानां रसभेदिनाम्,उसके फलोंमें जब रस आ जाता है अर्थात् जब वे पक जाते हैं, तब अपने-आप टूटकर गिर जाते हैं। उन फलोंकी लंबाई ढाई हजार अरत्नि- मानी गयी है
aratnīnāṃ sahasraṃ ca śatāni daśa pañca ca | pariṇāhas tu vṛkṣastha-phalānāṃ rasabhedinām |
Sañjaya said: “The fruits that grow upon those trees—whose juices differ in kind—have a girth measured as 2,500 aratnis. When their sap fully develops, meaning when they ripen, they break off of themselves and fall.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse primarily serves a descriptive purpose, but its ethical-literary function is to enlarge the reader’s sense of scale and consequence: the war unfolds in a world where nature itself appears immense and extraordinary, suggesting that human actions (especially violent ones) reverberate within a larger, ordered reality.
Sañjaya is reporting remarkable features of the environment—trees bearing enormous fruits of varied juices. As the fruits ripen, they naturally detach and fall, and their girth is given as 2,500 aratnis, emphasizing the marvel of the scene.