Shloka 23
Draupadī’s Exhortation on Rājadharma and Daṇḍa (द्रौपद्याः राजधर्मोपदेशः)
क्रौज्चद्वीपेन सदृश: शाकद्वीपो नराधिप | पूर्वेण तु महामेरोर्दण्डेन मृदितास्त्वया,नरेन्द्र! क्रौज्चद्वीपके समान ही शाकद्वीपको जो महामेरुसे पूर्व है, आपने दण्ड देकर दबा दिया है
vaiśampāyana uvāca |
krāuñcadvīpena sadṛśaḥ śākadvīpo narādhipa |
pūrveṇa tu mahāmeror daṇḍena mṛditas tvayā naraindra ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “O king, Śākadvīpa is comparable to Krāuñcadvīpa. But Śākadvīpa, lying to the east of the great Meru, has been pressed down by you with your staff, O lord of men.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses cosmological imagery to underscore the reach of royal power (daṇḍa) and the idea that a ruler’s authority can ‘subdue’ even vast domains; ethically, it hints that such power should be understood as a weighty instrument of governance, not mere force.
Vaiśampāyana describes Śākadvīpa as comparable to Krāuñcadvīpa and states that the king being addressed has ‘pressed down’ Śākadvīpa—situated east of Mahāmeru—by means of his staff, employing hyperbolic, mythic geography to magnify the king’s might.