Shloka 66
Adhyāya 31: Rājasūya-samāgama — The Gathering of Kings and the Ordering of Hospitality
वशे चक्रे महातेजा दण्डकांश्ष॒ महाबल: । सागरद्वीपवासांश्व॒ नृपतीन् म्लेच्छयोनिजान्
vaśe cakre mahātejā daṇḍakān mahābalaḥ | sāgaradvīpavāsāṁś ca nṛpatīn mlecchayonijān ||
Dijo Sahadeva: El héroe, poderoso y de gran fulgor, sometió a su dominio a los reyes fuertes de Daṇḍaka, y también a los monarcas que habitaban en las islas del océano—tenidos por de origen mleccha (ajeno a la tradición védica).
सहदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a political-ethical theme of the epic: a ruler’s expanding sovereignty is portrayed as establishing a unified order over diverse regions and peoples. It also reflects the Mahābhārata’s social vocabulary, where distant or non-orthodox groups are labeled “mleccha,” indicating perceived cultural-linguistic difference rather than a single ethnicity.
Sahadeva is recounting (or being described as) subduing additional territories during a campaign of conquest: the rulers of Daṇḍaka and the kings living in sea-islands, including those characterized as of mleccha origin, are brought under his control.