Shloka 9
Bhīmasena’s Eastern Digvijaya and the Cedi Reception
Sabhā-parva 26
स किरातैश्न चीनैश्व वृतः प्राग्ज्योतिषो5भवत् | अन्यैश्न बहुभियोंधे: सागरानूपवासिभि:,प्राग्ज्योतिषपुरके नरेश किरात, चीन तथा समुद्रके टापुओंमें रहनेवाले अन्य बहुतेरे योद्धाओंसे घिरे हुए थे
sa kirātaiś ca cīnaiś ca vṛtaḥ prāgjyotiṣo 'bhavat | anyaiś ca bahubhir yoddhaiḥ sāgarānūpavāsibhiḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana said: The king of Prāgjyotiṣa was surrounded by Kirātas and Cīnas, and also by many other warriors who dwelt along the seacoasts and in the marshy littoral regions.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the composite nature of royal power: a king’s strength may rest on many groups—frontier tribes and distant coastal allies—suggesting that political dominance is often a networked reality rather than a single lineage’s might, and that such power carries ethical complexity in how it is gathered and used.
Vaiśampāyana describes the king of Prāgjyotiṣa as being encircled by Kirātas, Cīnas, and numerous other warriors from coastal and marshland regions, portraying the breadth of his supporting forces and the wide geographic reach of his alliances.