Shloka 4
Adhyāya 6: Pañca-mahābhūta–guṇa-nirdeśa and Sudarśana-dvīpa
Five Elements, Sensory Qualities, and a Cosmographic Island
हिमवान् हेमकूटश्व निषधश्च नगोत्तम: । नीलश्न वैदूर्यमय: श्वेतश्न शशिसंनिभ:
sañjaya uvāca |
himavān hemakūṭaś ca niṣadhaś ca nagottamaḥ |
nīlaś ca vaidūryamayaḥ śvetaś ca śaśisaṃnibhaḥ |
संजय बोले—हिमवान, हेमकूट और पर्वतश्रेष्ठ निषध; वैदूर्यमणि-सम नीलगिरि तथा चन्द्रमा के समान उज्ज्वल श्वेतगिरि—ये सब विख्यात पर्वत हैं। राजन्, ये पर्वत सिद्धों और चारणों के सेवित, पवित्र निवास-स्थान हैं।
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a sacred, ordered cosmos: even amid the war narrative, the Mahābhārata situates events within a vast moral and spiritual universe, where exalted places are associated with purity, radiance, and the presence of perfected beings.
Sañjaya is describing prominent mountains by name and distinctive qualities (golden-peaked, gem-like, moon-bright), as part of a broader geographical/cosmological enumeration that frames the epic’s setting.