Shloka 10
Bhārata-varṣa-varṇana
Description of Bhārata: Mountains, Rivers, and Janapadas
महोत्साहा महात्मानो धार्मिका: सत्यवादिन: । प्रियदर्शना वपुष्मन्तो महावीर्या धनुर्धरा:
sañjaya uvāca | mahotsāhā mahātmāno dhārmikāḥ satyavādinaḥ | priyadarśanā vapuṣmanto mahāvīryā dhanurdharāḥ ||
संजय बोले—राजन्! त्रेतायुग में समस्त भूमण्डल के क्षत्रिय अत्यन्त उत्साही, महात्मा, धर्मात्मा, सत्यवादी, प्रियदर्शन, सुगठित शरीरवाले, महापराक्रमी और धनुर्धर होते थे।
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse presents an ethical ideal of rulership and warriorhood: true kṣatriya excellence is not only martial skill (dhanurdharatva, vīrya) but also moral discipline—dharma and truthfulness—together with self-mastery and noble disposition (mahātmā).
Sañjaya is describing the qualities of people in the Tretā age as part of a broader account of yuga-characteristics (how human nature and standards change across ages), addressing the king while narrating the Mahābhārata’s cosmological-ethical frame in Bhīṣma Parva.