Shloka 1
अर्जुन–उलूपीसंवादः
Arjuna and Ulūpī: Explanation of Śānti and the Maṇipūra Resolution
इस प्रकार श्रीमह्याभारत आश्वमेधिकपरववके अन्तर्गत अनुगीतापर्वरमें अश्चका अनुसरणविषयक इक्यासीवाँ अध्याय पूरा हुआ ॥/ ८१ ॥। ऑपन-- माल बछ। अकाल द्रयशीतितमो< ध्याय: मगधराज मेघसन्धिकी पराजय वैशम्पायन उवाच स तु वाजी समुद्रान्तां पर्येत्य वसुधामिमाम् । निवृत्तो5भिमुखो राजन् येन वारणसाह्दयम्,वैशम्पायनजी कहते हैं--राजन! इसके बाद वह घोड़ा समुद्रपर्यन्त सारी पृथ्वीकी परिक्रमा करके उस दिशाकी ओर मुँह करके लौटा, जिस ओर हस्तिनापुर था
Vaiśampāyana uvāca: sa tu vājī samudrāntāṃ paryetya vasudhām imām | nivṛtto ’bhimukho rājan yena Vāraṇasāhvayam ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “O King, that sacrificial horse, having traversed this earth up to the ocean’s bounds, turned back and set its face toward the direction where Vāraṇasāhvaya (Hastināpura) lay.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the dharmic symbolism of the Aśvamedha: the horse’s unhindered circuit of the earth signifies legitimate, ordered sovereignty, and its return toward the capital marks the ritual’s movement from expansion and testing of authority back to reintegration and completion.
The consecrated horse has completed its tour of the earth up to the ocean-bounded limits and now turns back, facing the direction of Vāraṇasāhvaya (Hastināpura), indicating the progress of the Aśvamedha rite toward its concluding stages.