Shloka 22
दमयन्त्याः अरण्यविहारः — Damayantī’s Passage through the Wilderness
एष विन्ध्यो महाशैल: पयोष्णी च समुद्रगा । आश्रमाश्च महर्षीणां बहुमूलफलान्विता:,“यह महान् पर्वत विन्ध्य दिखायी दे रहा है और यह समुद्रगामिनी पयोष्णी नदी है। यहाँ महर्षियोंके बहुत-से आश्रम हैं, जहाँ प्रचुर मात्रामें फल-मूल उपलब्ध हो सकते हैं। यह विदर्भदेशका मार्ग है और वह कोसलदेशको जाता है। दक्षिण दिशामें इसके बादका देश दक्षिणापथ कहलाता है”
bṛhadaśva uvāca | eṣa vindhyo mahāśailaḥ payoṣṇī ca samudragā | āśramāś ca maharṣīṇāṃ bahu-mūla-phalānvitāḥ |
Bṛhadaśva said: “Behold the mighty Vindhya mountain, and the Payoshnī river flowing onward to the sea. Here too are the hermitages of great seers, rich in roots and fruits.”
बृहृदश्च उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the dharmic ideal of the forest-ascetic world: nature and the sages’ hermitages provide simple, non-violent sustenance (roots and fruits), modeling restraint, contentment, and reverence for sacred landscapes.
Bṛhadaśva is pointing out landmarks along the route—Vindhya mountain and the Payoshnī river—and noting that the region contains many sages’ hermitages well supplied with forest produce, situating the travelers within a sacred and resourceful wilderness.