Shloka 22

Devanagari script

अपश्यं कृष्ण पृथिवीं धार्तराष्ट्रानुशासिताम्‌ । पूर्णा हस्तिगवाश्वैश्व वाष्णेय न तु तच्चिरम्‌,वृष्णिनन्दन श्रीकृष्ण! मैंने दुर्योधनद्वारा शासित हुई इस पृथ्वीको हाथी, घोड़े और गौओंसे भरी-पूरी देखा था; किंतु वह राज्य चिरस्थायी न रह सका

Transliteration

vaiśampāyana uvāca | apaśyaṁ kṛṣṇa pṛthivīṁ dhārtarāṣṭrānuśāsitām | pūrṇāṁ hastigavāśvaiś ca vāṣṇeya na tu tac ciram ||

Translation

वैशम्पायन बोले— हे कृष्ण, हे वृष्णिकुल-नन्दन! मैंने इस पृथ्वी को धृतराष्ट्र-पुत्र के शासन में हाथी, गौ और घोड़ों से परिपूर्ण देखा था; पर वह राज्य अधिक काल तक स्थिर न रह सका।

Word by Word

अपश्यम्I saw

कृष्णO Krishna

पृथिवीम्the earth

धार्तराष्ट्रby the Dhārtarāṣṭras (sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra)

अनुशासिताम्ruled, governed

पूर्णाम्full, filled

हस्तिwith elephants

गवwith cows

अश्वैःwith horses

वैश्वand indeed / altogether (reading uncertain)

वाष्णेयO descendant of Vृष्णि (Vāṣṇeya)

नnot

तुbut

तत्that (kingdom/state)

चिरम्for long

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Kṛṣṇa

Vṛṣṇi lineage (Vāṣṇeya)

Duryodhana (implied by 'Dhārtarāṣṭra')

Earth/kingdom (pṛthivī)

Elephants

Cattle

Horses

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?

Material prosperity and political dominance—symbolized by abundance of elephants, cattle, and horses—are unstable when grounded in adharma. Even a seemingly flourishing kingdom, if ruled through wrongful ambition and injustice, quickly collapses under the weight of its own moral failure.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the grief-filled context of the Strī Parva, Vaiśampāyana addresses Kṛṣṇa and recalls how the earth once appeared prosperous under Duryodhana’s rule. He then underscores the sudden reversal: that power and prosperity proved short-lived, pointing to the catastrophic outcome of the Kuru conflict.