Shloka 32
Varṣa-Parvata-Nivāsinām Varnanam
Description of Regions, Mountains, and Their Inhabitants
मानवीं वृषभां चैव ब्रद्ममेध्यां बृहद्धनिम् एताश्चान्याश्व बहुधा महानद्यो जनाधिप,सुनसा, तमसा, दासी, वसा, वराणसी, नीला, घृतवती, महानदी पर्णाशा, मानवी, वृषभा, ब्रह्ममेध्या, बृहद्धनि, राजन! ये तथा और भी बहुत-सी नदियाँ हैं
mānavīṁ vṛṣabhāṁ caiva brahmamedhyāṁ bṛhaddhanim | etāś cānyāś ca bahudhā mahānadyō janādhipa ||
Sañjaya said: “O lord of men, there are also these great rivers—Mānavī, Vṛṣabhā, Brahmamedhyā, and Bṛhaddhanī—and many others besides, in diverse regions.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse functions as a catalogue of sacred geography: by naming great rivers while addressing the king, it underscores the vastness and ordered diversity of the realm, implying that righteous kingship (janādhipatva) is exercised with awareness of the land and its sanctifying waters.
Sañjaya continues a descriptive enumeration, listing major rivers (and indicating many more) as part of a broader survey of regions and features relevant to the epic’s setting in the Bhīṣma Parva.