Shloka 39
शकुनेः पुत्रेण सह आश्वमेधाश्वविषयः संघर्षः — Arjuna’s restrained engagement with Śakuni’s son during the horse-escort
दधिकुल्याश्व ददृशु: सर्पिषश्व हृदान् जना: । जम्बूद्वीपो हि सकलो नानाजनपदायुतः
dadhikulyāś ca dadṛśuḥ sarpiṣaś ca hradān janāḥ | jambūdvīpo hi sakalo nānājanapadāyutaḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana said: People beheld streams of curd and lakes filled with clarified butter. Indeed, the whole of Jambūdvīpa—abounding in countless realms and communities—appeared transformed by this extraordinary abundance, suggesting a ritual order in which prosperity is made visible and shared.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses hyperbolic imagery of curd-streams and ghee-lakes to signal auspicious abundance generated by righteous ritual action; prosperity is portrayed as a public, shared good that accompanies ordered kingship and sacrificial duty.
Vaiśampāyana describes what people witnessed: extraordinary manifestations of plenty—streams of curd and lakes of ghee—spreading across the vast, many-territoried Jambūdvīpa, in the context of the Ashvamedhika narrative’s grand ritual setting.