Shloka 13
Adhyāya 31: Rājasūya-samāgama — The Gathering of Kings and the Ordering of Hospitality
कान्तारकांश्व समरे तथा प्राक्कोसलान् नृपान् | नाटकेयांश्व॒ समरे तथा हेरम्बकान् युधि
kāntārakāṃś ca samare tathā prākkosalān nṛpān | nāṭakeyāṃś ca samare tathā herambakān yudhi ||
उसने समर में कान्तारक तथा पूर्वकोसल के राजाओं को भी, और युद्ध में नाटकेयों तथा हेरम्बकों को भी परास्त किया।
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse itself is not a moral injunction but a narrative record of conquests. In the Mahābhārata’s ethical frame, such victory-lists invite reflection on kṣatriya dharma—how rulers seek legitimacy through warfare—and on the moral cost of ambition and expansion.
Vaiśampāyana continues enumerating the opponents defeated in a campaign: the kings of Kāntāraka and Eastern Kosala, and then the Nāṭakeyas and Herambakas, all overcome in battle.