Shloka 185
Śuka’s Guṇa-Transcendence and Vyāsa’s Consolation (शुकगति-वर्णनम्)
द्रोणश्न शतश्ड्भश्न चक्रद्वारश्न पर्वत: । मम सत्रेषु पूर्वेषां चिता मघवता सह
bhīṣma uvāca | droṇaś ca śataśṛṅgaś ca cakradvāraś ca parvataḥ | mama satreṣu pūrveṣāṃ citā maghavatā saha |
Bhīṣma dit : «Lors des antiques sessions sacrificielles de mes ancêtres, avec l’assistance de Maghavat (Indra), les montagnes nommées Droṇa, Śataśṛṅga et Cakradvāra furent choisies pour servir à l’édification de l’autel, à la place de briques ordinaires. Cette parole rappelle la grandeur des rites d’autrefois et la croyance que, lorsque le sacrifice est accompli selon l’ordre du dharma, les dieux eux-mêmes prêtent leur concours et la nature devient instrument du dharma.»
भीष्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the prestige of properly conducted ancestral Vedic rites: when dharma is upheld through correct sacrificial practice, divine powers (here Indra) are portrayed as cooperating, and extraordinary resources are made available for the ritual’s completion.
Bhīṣma recalls a tradition from his forefathers’ sacrificial sessions in which, with Indra’s help, specific mountains—Droṇa, Śataśṛṅga, and Cakradvāra—were used as components of the altar structure in place of ordinary bricks, highlighting the exceptional scale and sanctity of those rites.