Shloka 47
Varṣa-Parvata-Nivāsinām Varnanam
Description of Regions, Mountains, and Their Inhabitants
बाह्विका वाटधानाश्व आभीरा: कालतोयका: । अपरान्ता: परान्ताश्न पज्चालाश्षर्ममण्डला:
bāhvīkā vāṭadhānāśvā ābhīrāḥ kālatoyakāḥ | aparāntāḥ parāntāś ca pañcālāḥ śarmamaṇḍalāḥ ||
Sañjaya said: “There were also the Bāhvīkas, the Vāṭadhānas famed for their horses, the Ābhīras, and the Kālatoyakas; the peoples of Aparānta and Parānta as well; and the Pañcālas and the Śarmamaṇḍalas.” In this catalogue of forces, the poem underscores how the war draws in many regions and communities, widening the moral burden of conflict beyond a single dynasty.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse functions as part of an epic catalogue: it highlights the vast, multi-regional scale of the Kurukṣetra war. Ethically, such lists remind the listener that war’s consequences spread across many communities, not merely the principal royal houses, thereby intensifying the sense of collective moral weight and social disruption.
Sañjaya is enumerating various peoples and contingents present in the war. This verse continues the roll-call of groups—tribes and regional forces—who have assembled, situating the conflict within a broad political and geographic landscape.