Shloka 8
Parāśara’s Counsel on बुद्धि (Discernment), Karma-Consequences, and Avoidance of Pāpānubandha Actions
योजनानां शतान्यूर्थध्व पञज्चोच्छितमरिंदम । शतानि विस्तरेणाथ त्रीण्येवाभ्यधिकानि वै,शत्रुदमन नरेश! वह पाँच सौ योजन ऊँचा था और कुछ अधिक तीन सौ योजन उसकी मोटाई थी
yojanānāṁ śatāny ūrdhvaṁ pañcocchitam ariṁdama | śatāni vistareṇātha trīṇy evābhyadhikāni vai, śatrudamana nareśa! |
Bhīṣma dit : «Ô dompteur d’ennemis, il s’élevait à cinq cents yojanas de hauteur ; et en largeur (ou en épaisseur) il mesurait trois cents yojanas et un peu davantage. Ô roi qui broie ses adversaires !»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse primarily serves a descriptive purpose: it conveys the immense scale of what is being narrated, using epic hyperbole and traditional measures. Indirectly, it reinforces the Mahābhārata’s habit of situating ethical instruction within a vast, awe-inducing cosmological and legendary frame.
Bhīṣma is describing the dimensions of an object or structure in the ongoing account, stating its height as five hundred yojanas and its breadth/thickness as a little more than three hundred yojanas, while addressing the king with honorific epithets (‘crusher/subduer of enemies’).