Shloka 18
Adhyāya 8: Saṃprahāra-varṇana and Bhīma–Kṣemadhūrti Dvipa-Yuddha
Combat Description and Elephant Duel
योडजयत् सर्वकाम्बोजानावन्त्यान् केकयै: सह | गान्धारान् मद्रकान् मत्स्यांस्त्रिगर्तास्तड्रणाउ्शकान्,जिस वीरने पहले समस्त काम्बोज, आवन्त्य, केकय, गान्धार, मद्र, मत्स्य, त्रिगर्त, तंगण, शक, पांचाल, विदेह, कुलिन्द, काशी, कोसल, सुहा, अंग, वंग, निषाद, पुण्ड्र, चीरक, वत्स, कलिंग, तरल, अश्मक तथा ऋषिक--इन सभी देशों तथा शबर, परहूण, प्रहूण और सरल जातिके लोगों, म्लेच्छराज्यके अधिपतियों तथा दुर्ग एवं वनोंमें रहनेवाले योद्धाओं-को समरभूमिमें जीतकर कर देनेवाला बना दिया था
vaiśampāyana uvāca | yo 'jayat sarva-kāmbojān āvantyān kekayaiḥ saha | gāndhārān madrakān matsyāṁs trigartāṁs taṅgaṇān śakān |
Vaiśampāyana said: “He was the hero who, on the battlefield, subdued and made tributary all the Kāmbojas; the Avantis together with the Kekayas; and likewise the Gāndhāras, the Madras, the Matsyas, the Trigartas, the Taṅgaṇas, and the Śakas.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores a key epic ethic of political life: conquest creates obligations and dependencies (tribute, subordination), and such accumulated power—won through force—becomes part of the moral background of the Kurukṣetra war, where earlier ambitions and dominations return as consequences.
Vaiśampāyana is describing a warrior’s past military successes by listing the many peoples and regions he defeated. The catalogue-style enumeration serves to magnify the hero’s might and to situate the current war within a wider map of allied and subjugated kingdoms.