Shloka 28
Varṣa-Parvata-Nivāsinām Varnanam
Description of Regions, Mountains, and Their Inhabitants
विदिशां कृष्णवेणां च ताम्रां च कपिलामपि । खलु सुवामां वेदाश्वां हरिश्रावां महापगाम्,सदाकान्ता, शिवा, वीरमती, वस्त्रा, सुवस्त्रा, गौरी, कम्पना, हिरण्वती, वरा, वीरकरा, महानदी पंचमी, रथचित्रा, ज्योतिरथा, विश्वामित्रा, कपिंजला, उपेन्द्रा, बहुला, कुवीरा, अम्बुवाहिनी, विनदी, पिंजला, वेणा, महानदी तुंगवेणा, विदिशा, कृष्णवेणा, ताम्रा, कपिला, खलु, सुवामा, वेदाश्वा, हरिश्रावा, महापगा, शीघ्रा, पिच्छिला, भारद्वाजी नदी, कौशिकी नदी, शोणा, बाहुदा, चन्द्रमा, दुर्गा, चित्रशिला, ब्रह्मवेध्या, बृहद्वती, यवक्षा, रोही तथा जाम्बूनदी
sañjaya uvāca | vidiśāṃ kṛṣṇaveṇāṃ ca tāmrāṃ ca kapilām api | khalu suvāmāṃ vedāśvāṃ hariśrāvāṃ mahāpagām | sadākāntā śivā vīramatī vastrā suvastrā gaurī kampanā hiraṇvatī varā vīrakarā mahānadī pañcamī rathacitrā jyotirathā viśvāmitrā kapiñjalā upendrā bahulā kuvīrā ambuvāhinī vinadī piñjalā veṇā mahānadī tuṅgaveṇā vidiśā kṛṣṇaveṇā tāmrā kapilā khalu suvāmā vedāśvā hariśrāvā mahāpagā śīghrā picchilā bhāradvājī nadī kauśikī nadī śoṇā bāhudā candramā durgā citraśilā brahmavedhyā bṛhadvatī yavakṣā rohī tathā jāmbūnadī ||
Sañjaya said: “There were also many rivers—Vidiśā, Kṛṣṇaveṇā, Tāmrā, Kapilā, Suvāmā, Vedāśvā, Hariśrāvā, and the great Mahāpagā.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
By invoking a long list of rivers, the text frames the war within a sacred and life-giving landscape. The implied ethical pressure is that violence is not abstract: it occurs upon a living land sustained by holy waters, making the decision for war morally weighty and publicly witnessed by the very geography revered in dharma.
Sañjaya continues a descriptive catalogue, naming numerous rivers. Such catalogues in the Mahābhārata often situate events geographically and ritually, expanding the scene from the battlefield to the wider world that surrounds and bears the consequences of the conflict.