Shloka 25
Rājasūya-sambhāra: Prosperity under Rājadharma and the Initiation of Yudhiṣṭhira’s Sacrifice
सुह्यानामधिपं चैव ये च सागरवासिन: । सर्वान् म्लेच्छगणांश्वैव विजिग्ये भरतर्षभ:,तदनन्तर भरतश्रेष्ठ भीमसेनने समुद्रसेन, भूपाल चन्द्रसेन, राजा ताम्रलिप्त, कर्वटाधिपति तथा सुह्यनरेशको जीतकर समुद्रके तटपर निवास करनेवाले समस्त म्लेच्छोंको भी अपने अधीन कर लिया
vaiśampāyana uvāca |
śuhyānām adhipaṃ caiva ye ca sāgaravāsinaḥ |
sarvān mlecchagaṇāṃś caiva vijigye bharatarṣabhaḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana said: Then Bhīma, the bull among the Bharatas, subdued the lord of the Śuhyas and also those who dwelt by the sea; indeed, he brought under his control all the bands of mlecchas living along the ocean’s shore. The passage frames Bhīma’s campaign as an extension of imperial consolidation—asserting political order over frontier peoples and coastal regions in service of his side’s larger royal objective.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the epic ideal of royal consolidation: a powerful agent of the king extends control over distant regions and frontier peoples, presenting political unification and the establishment of order as a key function of sovereignty in the Mahābhārata’s world.
During the wider campaign of subjugating regions for imperial purposes, Bhīma is described as defeating the Śuhya ruler and bringing under control the coastal peoples and various mleccha groups living by the sea.