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

Vaiśaṃpāyana dit : Cette montagne, encombrée de nombreuses demeures, resplendissait comme le monde des dieux. On y avait établi quantité de maisons et d’ermitage pour l’accomplissement d’observances sacrées, habités par des hommes de mérite. Lors de la grande fête du mont Raivataka, elle devint un lieu de délassement pour les héros vṛṣṇis ; et, parce que tout le versant était rempli d’innombrables résidences, la contrée paraissait aussi splendide que le ciel—suggérant que la piété commune et la joie tenue par la discipline peuvent transfigurer un paysage terrestre en espace sanctifié.

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.