Shloka 48
Śoka-śamana: Kṛṣṇa’s Consolation and Nārada’s Exempla to Sṛñjaya
Chapter 29
भरतस्य महत् कर्म सर्वराजसु पार्थिवा: । खं मर्त्या इव बाहुभ्यां नानुगन्तुमशक्नुवन्,'जैसे मनुष्य दोनों भुजाओंसे आकाशको तैर नहीं सकते, उसी प्रकार सम्पूर्ण राजाओंमें भरतका जो महान् कर्म है, उसका दूसरे राजा अनुकरण न कर सके
bharatasya mahat karma sarvarājasu pārthivāḥ | khaṃ martyā iva bāhubhyāṃ nānugantum aśaknuvan ||
Vāyu said: “Among all kings on earth, Bharata’s achievement was so great that other rulers could not emulate it—just as mortal men, with their two arms, cannot swim through the sky.”
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
True greatness in righteous kingship can be so exceptional that it becomes practically inimitable; the verse underscores both the rarity of such dharmic achievement and the natural limits of ordinary rulers.
Vāyudeva is praising King Bharata by comparing his unparalleled royal accomplishment to an impossible act for humans—swimming through the sky—thereby asserting that other kings could not match or reproduce Bharata’s standard.