Mahabharata 3.42.28 — Vana Parva, Adhyaya 42, Shloka 28

Lokapāla-samāgamaḥ—Arjuna Receives Astras from the World-Guardians

Book 3, Chapter 42

Devanagari script

अप्सरोगणसंकीर्णे ब्रह्मघोषानुनादिते

Transliteration

apsarogaṇasaṅkīrṇe brahmaghoṣānunādite

Translation

Vaiśampāyana said: “That place was thronged with companies of Apsarases, and it resounded with sacred Brahmanical chants.”

Word by Word

• अप्सरोगणसंकीर्णे: in (a place) crowded with groups of Apsarases
• अप्सरोगणसंकीर्णे: Adhikarana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अप्सरोगणसंकीर्ण
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• ब्रह्मघोषानुनादिते: in (a place) resounding with Vedic chants
• ब्रह्मघोषानुनादिते: Adhikarana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ब्रह्मघोषानुनादित
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Apsarases
• Brahmanical/Vedic chants (brahmaghoṣa)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the ethical-aesthetic ideal that sacred spaces are marked by purity and auspicious sound: the presence of celestial beings and the reverberation of Vedic chant signify a realm ordered by dharma and ritual propriety.

What is happening in the narrative?

The narrator describes a setting—likely a divine or highly sanctified locale—as being filled with Apsarases and echoing with Brahmanical/Vedic recitations, establishing an atmosphere of holiness and grandeur before the next narrative action.