Shloka 48
Rājasūyābhiṣeka-darśana: Duryodhana’s Observation of the Consecration
स्थूणासहसैर्बृहतीं शतद्वारां सभां मम । मनोरमां दर्शनीयामाशु कुर्वन्तु शिल्पिन:,“बहुत-से शिल्पी लगकर एक परम सुन्दर दर्शनीय एवं विशाल सभाभवनका शीघ्र निर्माण करें। उसमें सौ दरवाजे हों और एक हजार खंभे लगे हुए हों
sthūṇāsahasair bṛhatīṃ śatadvārāṃ sabhāṃ mama | manoramāṃ darśanīyām āśu kurvantu śilpinaḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “Let many craftsmen quickly build for me a vast assembly-hall—delightful and worthy to behold—furnished with a thousand pillars and provided with a hundred doors.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores how authority is exercised through purposeful command and organized craftsmanship: a ruler’s vision is realized by skilled labor, and public grandeur becomes a means of establishing prestige and legitimacy. Ethically, it points to responsibility in commissioning large works—mobilizing skill and resources toward a shared civic symbol.
A grand sabhā (royal assembly hall) is being ordered for construction. The speaker reports an instruction that artisans should quickly build an immense, beautiful hall with a hundred doors and a thousand pillars, setting the stage for the famed courtly events associated with the Sabha Parva.