Shloka 16

Devanagari script

गौरप्रायो जन: सर्व: सुकुमारश्न पार्थिव । अवशिष्ठेषु सर्वेषु वक्ष्यामि मनुजेश्वर,मनुजेश्वर! इन वर्षोके सभी लोग प्राय: गोरे और सुकुमार होते हैं। अब मैं शेष सम्पूर्ण द्वीपोंके विषयमें बताता हूँ

Transliteration

gauraprāyo janaḥ sarvaḥ sukumāraś ca pārthiva | avaśiṣṭeṣu sarveṣu vakṣyāmi manujeśvara ||

Translation

Dijo Sañjaya: «Oh rey, la gente de estas regiones es, en su mayor parte, de tez clara y de constitución delicada. Ahora, oh señor de los hombres, te describiré también todas las islas restantes.»

Word by Word

गौरप्रायःmostly fair(-complexioned)

जनःpeople

सर्वःall

सुकुमारःdelicate, tender

चand

पार्थिवO king

अवशिष्टेषुin/among the remaining

सर्वेषुin all

वक्ष्यामिI will tell

मनुजेश्वरO lord of men

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Dhṛtarāṣṭra (implied by vocatives pārthiva/manujeśvara)

dvīpa (islands/continents; implied by context)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse is primarily descriptive rather than prescriptive: it models careful, orderly narration to a ruler—reporting characteristics of peoples and then proceeding systematically to the remaining regions. Ethically, it reflects the epic’s concern for responsible speech (truthful, structured reporting) in service of governance and understanding.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya continues a cosmographical account addressed to the king, noting that the inhabitants of the regions just mentioned are generally fair and delicate, and then announces that he will go on to describe the rest of the islands/continents.