Shloka 32
Śānti Parva, Adhyāya 52 — Bhīṣma’s Humility Before Kṛṣṇa and the Granting of Boons
ययौ रथानां पुरतो हि सा चमू- स्तथैव पश्चादतिमात्रसारिणी | पुरश्न पश्चाच्च यथा महानदी तमृक्षवन्तं गिरिमेत्य नर्मदा
vaiśampāyana uvāca | yayau rathānāṃ purato hi sā camūs tathaiva paścād atimātrasāriṇī | puraś ca paścāc ca yathā mahānadī tam ṛkṣavantaṃ girim etya narmadā ||
Dijo Vaiśampāyana: Aquel vasto ejército avanzó, extendiéndose muy lejos por delante de los carros y asimismo muy lejos por detrás. Desplegado al frente y en la retaguardia, se mostraba espléndido, como el gran río Narmadā que, al llegar al monte Ṛkṣavat, fluye ancho y hermoso a lo largo de sus tramos anterior y posterior.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the awe-inspiring scale and ordered spread of military power, while the river simile subtly frames such power within a larger moral and natural order: force and grandeur should be restrained and directed by dharma, not by pride or cruelty.
The narrator describes a massive army on the march, extending far ahead of and behind the chariots. Its breadth and flowing movement are compared to the Narmadā river near Mount Ṛkṣavat, emphasizing the host’s vast, continuous, river-like expanse.