Shloka 29
Chapter 7: Dvīpa–Varṣa–Meru-varṇana
Description of the Dvīpa, Varṣas, and Mount Meru
योजनानां सहस्राणि पठचषण्माल्यवानथ । महारजतसंकाशा जायन्ते तत्र मानवा:,माल्यवान्का विस्तार पाँच-छ: हजार योजन है। वहाँ सुवर्णके समान कान्तिमान् मानव उत्पन्न होते हैं
yojanānāṁ sahasrāṇi pañca-ṣaṇ-mālyavān atha | mahā-rajata-saṅkāśā jāyante tatra mānavāḥ ||
Sañjaya said: “Mālyavān extends for five or six thousand yojanas. There, human beings are born with a great, silver-like radiance.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse is primarily descriptive rather than prescriptive: it conveys that the world is vast and varied, and that certain regions are imagined as inherently luminous or refined. In the Mahābhārata’s ethical atmosphere, such imagery can function as a contrast to war—hinting at ideals of purity, order, and auspiciousness beyond conflict.
Sañjaya continues a cosmographic account, describing the extent of a place called Mālyavān and the extraordinary, silver-radiant humans said to be born there.