Shloka 3
संजय उवाच प्रागायता महाराज षडेते वर्षपर्वता: । अवगाढा हाुभयत: समुद्रौ पूर्वपश्चिमौ,संजय बोले--महाराज! पूर्वदिशासे पश्चिम दिशाकी ओर फैले हुए ये छ: वर्ष पर्वत हैं, जो दोनों ओर पूर्व तथा पश्चिम समुद्रमें घुसे हुए हैं
sañjaya uvāca | prāgāyatā mahārāja ṣaḍ ete varṣaparvatāḥ | avagāḍhā ubhayataḥ samudrau pūrvapaścimau ||
Sañjaya said: O great king, these six Varṣa-mountains extend from the east toward the west. On both sides they plunge into the oceans—the eastern and the western—marking the great natural boundaries of the lands. The description frames the world as ordered and delimited, suggesting that even amid impending war, creation is structured by enduring limits and cosmic arrangement.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse emphasizes cosmic order and natural boundaries: the world is portrayed as structured by enduring geographical limits (mountains and oceans). In the Mahābhārata’s ethical atmosphere, such order implicitly contrasts with human disorder in war, reminding the listener that dharma and restraint are grounded in a larger, stable framework.
Sañjaya is describing the layout of the world/lands to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra, mentioning six Varṣa-mountains that run east–west and sink into the eastern and western oceans on both sides, functioning as boundary-markers in the cosmographical description.