Shloka 24
सेनासमागमः — The Convergence of Armies
महीपालो महावीर्यर्दक्षिणापथवासिभि: । इसी प्रकार माहिष्मती पुरीके निवासी राजा नील भी दक्षिण देशके रहनेवाले श्यामवर्णके शस्त्रधारी महापराक्रमी सैनिकोंके साथ दुर्योधनके पक्षमें आये ।। आवलन्त्यौ च महीपालौ महाबलसुसंवृतौ
mahīpālo mahāvīryo dakṣiṇāpathavāsibhiḥ | āvalantyau ca mahīpālau mahābalasusamvṛtau ||
Vaiśaṃpāyana dit : Un roi puissant, doué d’une grande vaillance, vint accompagné de guerriers du Dakṣiṇāpatha (les contrées du Sud). De même, le roi Nīla de la cité de Māhiṣmatī—avec des troupes méridionales au teint sombre, armées et d’une force redoutable—arriva pour soutenir Duryodhana. Et les deux rois d’Avanti vinrent aussi, entourés de forces d’une grande puissance.
वैशमग्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage highlights how political ambition and impending war draw rulers into alliances; it implicitly raises the ethical tension between loyalty to a faction and the broader demands of dharma, since many powerful kings choose sides before fully weighing the righteousness of the cause.
In the Udyoga Parva’s war-preparation sequence, southern rulers and their troops—especially King Nīla of Māhiṣmatī and the two kings of Avanti—are listed among those who come to support Duryodhana, showing the widening coalition on the Kaurava side.