Shloka 14
Varṣa-Parvata-Nivāsinām Varnanam
Description of Regions, Mountains, and Their Inhabitants
नदीं पिबन्ति विपुलां गड़ां सिन्धुं सरस्वतीम् । गोदावरीं नर्मदां च बाहुदां च महानदीम्,इनसे भिन्न और भी छोटे-छोटे अपरिचित पर्वत हैं, जो छोटे-छोटे प्राणियोंके जीवन- निर्वाहका आश्रय बने हुए हैं। प्रभो! कुरुनन्दन! इस भारतवर्षमें आर्य, म्लेच्छ तथा संकर जातिके मनुष्य निवास करते हैं। वे लोग यहाँकी जिन बड़ी-बड़ी नदियोंके जल पीते हैं, उनके नाम बताता हूँ, सुनिये। गंगा, सिन्धु, सरस्वती, गोदावरी, नर्मदा, बाहुदा, महानदी, शतद्गू, चन्द्रभागा, महानदी यमुना, दृषद्वती, विपाशा, विपापा, स्थूलबालुका, वेत्रवती, कृष्णवेणा, इरावती, वितस्ता, पयोष्पी, देविका, वेदस्मृता, वेदवती, त्रिदिवा, इक्षुला, कृमि, करीषिणी, चित्रवाहा तथा चित्रसेना नदी
nadīṁ pibanti vipulāṁ gaḍāṁ sindhuṁ sarasvatīm | godāvarīṁ narmadāṁ ca bāhudāṁ ca mahānadīm ||
Sañjaya said: “They drink the waters of many great rivers—Gaṅgā, Sindhu, and Sarasvatī; also Godāvarī and Narmadā; and likewise Bāhudā and the great river Mahānadī.” (In this section, Sañjaya continues a geographic catalogue of Bhārata’s lands and waters, portraying the subcontinent as sustained by its rivers and the diverse peoples who depend upon them.)
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores interdependence: the peoples of Bhārata are sustained by shared natural resources (rivers). It frames the land as a unified, life-supporting realm despite diversity, a common motif in epic descriptions of Bhārata-varṣa.
Sañjaya is reporting to Dhṛtarāṣṭra and continues a descriptive catalogue of Bhārata’s regions and rivers. Here he names major rivers whose waters are drunk by the inhabitants, as part of a broader geographic survey in Bhīṣma-parvan.