Shloka 15
Adhyaya 60: Self-Assertion, Daiva, and the Rhetoric of Inevitability (उद्योग पर्व)
अक्षौहिणीभिर्यान् देशान् यामि कार्येण केनचित् । तत्राश्वा मे प्रवर्तन्ते यत्र यत्राभिकामये
akṣauhīṇībhir yān deśān yāmi kāryeṇa kenacit | tatrāśvā me pravartante yatra yatrābhikāmaye ||
वैशम्पायन बोले—मैं किसी प्रयोजन से अनेक अक्षौहिणी सेनाओं सहित जिन-जिन देशों में जाता हूँ, वहाँ-वहाँ जहाँ-जहाँ मेरी इच्छा होती है, मेरे घोड़े बिना रोक-टोक उन्हीं स्थानों में निर्बाध विचरते हैं।
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the outward signs of sovereignty—armies and mobility—showing how power enables unrestricted movement. Ethically, it can be read as a caution: such freedom often reflects dominance and may feed pride, inviting reflection on whether strength is guided by dharma or mere ambition.
In Vaiśampāyana’s narration, a speaker (implicitly a powerful ruler/warrior) boasts of traveling across many regions with vast forces (akṣauhiṇīs), claiming that his horses can go wherever he wishes without obstruction—an assertion of control and military supremacy.