Shloka 2

Devanagari script

कियन्तं कालमवसन्‌ पर्वते गन्धमादने । कि च चक्रुर्महावीर्या: सर्वेडतिबलपौरुषा:,जनमेजयने पूछा--ब्रह्मन! गन्धमादन पर्वतपर आर्टिषेणके आश्रममें मेरे समस्त पूर्वपितामह दिव्य पराक्रमी महामना पाण्डव कितने समयतक रहे? वे सभी महान्‌ पराक्रमी और अत्यन्त बल-पौरुषसे सम्पन्न थे। वहाँ रहकर उन्होंने क्या किया?

Transliteration

Janamejaya uvāca |

kiyantaṁ kālam avasan parvate Gandhamādane |

kiṁ ca cakrur mahāvīryāḥ sarve ’tibalapauruṣāḥ ||

Translation

Janamejaya said: “For how long did they dwell on Mount Gandhamādana? And what did those great heroes—each endowed with extraordinary strength and manly prowess—do while living there?”

Word by Word

• {'kiyantam': 'how much

• how long (extent of time)', 'kālam': 'time

• period', 'avasan': 'they dwelt

• they stayed (3rd pl. imperfect/preterite of √vas, ‘to dwell’)', 'parvate': 'on the mountain (locative singular)', 'Gandhamādane': 'on Gandhamādana (a Himalayan mountain

• locative singular)', 'kim': 'what?', 'ca': 'and', 'cakruḥ': 'they did

• they performed (3rd pl. perfect of √kṛ, ‘to do’)', 'mahāvīryāḥ': 'of great valor

• great heroes', 'sarve': 'all', 'atibala': 'exceeding strength

• extraordinary power', 'pauruṣa': 'manly vigor

• heroic effort', 'atibalapauruṣāḥ': 'possessing extraordinary strength and prowess'}

Speaker

जनमेजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Janamejaya
• Mount Gandhamādana
• the Pāṇḍavas (implied by context: ‘those great heroes’)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse models dhārmic inquiry: a king seeks precise knowledge about the conduct and discipline of exemplary heroes during hardship. It implies that true greatness is measured not only in battle but also in how one lives during exile—through restraint, purposeful action, and adherence to duty.

What is happening in the narrative?

Janamejaya asks the narrator to specify the duration of the Pāṇḍavas’ stay on Mount Gandhamādana and to describe their activities there, setting up the next portion of the account about their life and deeds during the forest exile.