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Shloka 23

Nahūṣa’s Fall Explained: Agastya’s Account to Indra (Śalya-narrated)

Devanagari script

गन्धर्वा देवकन्याश्ष सर्वे चाप्सरसां गणा: । सरांसि सरित: शैला: सागराक्ष विशाम्पते

Transliteration

gandharvā devakanyāś ca sarve cāpsarasāṃ gaṇāḥ | sarāṃsi saritaḥ śailāḥ sāgarākṣa viśāṃ pate ||

Translation

હે નરાધિપ! ગંધર્વો, દેવકન્યાઓ અને અપ્સરાઓના સર્વ સમૂહ; તેમજ સરોવરો, નદીઓ, પર્વતો અને સમુદ્રો—(આ વિષયના સાક્ષી છે).

Word by Word

गन्धर्वाःGandharvas (celestial musicians)

देवकन्याःdaughters of the gods (celestial maidens)

सर्वेall

चand

अप्सरसाम्of the Apsarases (celestial nymphs)

गणाःgroups, hosts

सरांसिlakes, ponds

सरितःrivers

शैलाःmountains

सागराक्षO sea-eyed one (epithet; likely addressing the king)

विशाम्पतेO lord of the people

Speaker

शल्य उवाच

Characters & Entities

Śalya

Gandharvas

Devakanyās (celestial maidens)

Apsarases

lakes (sarāṃsi)

rivers (saritaḥ)

mountains (śailāḥ)

oceans/seas (sāgarāḥ)

addressee: viśāṃ pati (a king/lord of men)

epithet: sāgarākṣa (ocean-eyed)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores moral accountability: one’s words and decisions—especially in royal counsel—are not merely private or political but stand before a wider order, as if witnessed by divine beings and the very landscape. This reinforces the ethical weight of truthfulness and righteous resolve.

What is happening in the narrative?

Śalya addresses a king (vocatively, “lord of men,” “ocean-eyed”) and invokes celestial beings (Gandharvas, Apsarases, divine maidens) and natural features (lakes, rivers, mountains, seas) as encompassing witnesses, intensifying the seriousness of the counsel or declaration being made in the Udyoga Parva setting.