Shloka 143

युद्धसंग्रहः

Kurukṣetra Campaign in Summary

Devanagari script

स नगो वेश्मसंकीर्णो देवलोक इवाबभौ । वीरवर! उस पर्वतपर प्रण्यानुष्ठानके लिये बहुत-से गृह और आश्रम बने थे

Transliteration

sa nagaḥ veśma-saṅkīrṇo devaloka ivābabhau |

Translation

Dijo Vaiśaṃpāyana: Aquella montaña, atestada de numerosas moradas, resplandecía como el mundo de los dioses. En ella se habían establecido muchas casas y ermitas para el cumplimiento de observancias sagradas, habitadas por hombres de mérito. En el gran festival del monte Raivataka, se convirtió en lugar de recreo para los heroicos guerreros vṛṣṇis; y, por estar toda la ladera colmada de incontables residencias, la región lucía tan espléndida como el cielo, sugiriendo cómo la piedad comunitaria y la celebración disciplinada pueden transformar un paisaje mundano en un espacio consagrado.

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'saḥ', 'definition': 'he/that (referring to the mountain)'}, {'term': 'nagaḥ', 'definition': 'mountain'}, {'term': 'veśma', 'definition': 'house, dwelling'}, {'term': 'saṅkīrṇa', 'definition': 'crowded, filled, thronged'}, {'term': 'devalokaḥ', 'definition': 'the world/realm of the gods

• heaven'}, {'term': 'iva', 'definition': 'like, as if'}, {'term': 'ababhau', 'definition': 'shone, appeared splendid (perfect of √bhā)'}, {'term': 'āśrama', 'definition': 'hermitage

• a place of disciplined religious life'}, {'term': 'puṇyātmā', 'definition': 'virtuous-souled, meritorious'}, {'term': 'vr̥ṣṇivaṃśa / vr̥ṣṇayaḥ', 'definition': 'the Vṛṣṇi lineage/clan (Kṛṣṇa’s people)'}, {'term': 'vihāra-sthala', 'definition': 'place of recreation/sojourn'}, {'term': 'mahotsava', 'definition': 'great festival'}, {'term': 'raivataka', 'definition': 'Raivataka (name of the mountain)'}]

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Raivataka mountain
• Devaloka (heaven)
• Vṛṣṇi warriors
• houses (veśma)
• hermitages (āśrama)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how righteous conduct and sacred observances (performed in āśramas by puṇyātmans) can sanctify a place, making it resemble ‘devaloka’. It implicitly commends disciplined celebration—festivity aligned with dharma—rather than indulgence divorced from spiritual purpose.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana describes Mount Raivataka during a great festival: the mountain is packed with houses and hermitages for religious observances, inhabited by virtuous people, and it serves as a leisure-ground for the heroic Vṛṣṇis; the crowded, radiant scene is compared to heaven.