Shloka 185
Śuka’s Guṇa-Transcendence and Vyāsa’s Consolation (शुकगति-वर्णनम्)
द्रोणश्न शतश्ड्भश्न चक्रद्वारश्न पर्वत: । मम सत्रेषु पूर्वेषां चिता मघवता सह
bhīṣma uvāca | droṇaś ca śataśṛṅgaś ca cakradvāraś ca parvataḥ | mama satreṣu pūrveṣāṃ citā maghavatā saha |
Bhīṣma said: “In the ancient sacrificial sessions of my forefathers, with the assistance of Maghavat (Indra), the mountains named Droṇa, Śataśṛṅga, and Cakradvāra were selected to serve in the altar construction in place of ordinary bricks. The statement evokes the grandeur of earlier rites and the belief that when sacrifice is performed in due order, even the gods cooperate and nature itself becomes an instrument of dharma.”
भीष्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the prestige of properly conducted ancestral Vedic rites: when dharma is upheld through correct sacrificial practice, divine powers (here Indra) are portrayed as cooperating, and extraordinary resources are made available for the ritual’s completion.
Bhīṣma recalls a tradition from his forefathers’ sacrificial sessions in which, with Indra’s help, specific mountains—Droṇa, Śataśṛṅga, and Cakradvāra—were used as components of the altar structure in place of ordinary bricks, highlighting the exceptional scale and sanctity of those rites.