Shloka 62
Varṣa-Parvata-Nivāsinām Varnanam
Description of Regions, Mountains, and Their Inhabitants
तथैव विन्ध्यचुलिका: पुलिन्दा वल्कलै: सह । मालवा बल्लवाश्वैव तथैवापरबल्लवा:,भरतश्रेष्ठ] अब जो दक्षिणदिशाके अन्यान्य जनपद हैं उनका वर्णन सुनिये--द्रविड, केरल, प्राच्य, भूषिक, वनवासिक, कर्णाटक, महिषक, विकल्प, मूषक, झिल्लिक, कुन्तल, सौहृद, नभकानन, कौकुट्टक, चोल, कोंकण, मालव, नर, समंग, करक, कुकुर, अंगार, मारिष, ध्वजिनी, उत्सव-संकेत, त्रिगर्त, शाल्वसेनि, व्यूक, कोकबक, प्रोष्ठ, समवेगवश, विन्ध्यचुलिक, पुलिन्द, वल्कल, मालव, बल्लव, अपरबल्लव, कुलिन्द, कालद, कुण्डल, करट, मूषक, स्तनबाल, सनीप, घट, सूंजय, अठिद, पाशिवाट, तनय, सुनय, ऋषिक, विदभ, काक, तंगण, परतंगण, उत्तर और क्रूर अपरम्लेच्छ, यवन, चीन तथा जहाँ भयानक म्लेच्छक-जातिके लोग निवास करते हैं, वह काम्बोज
tathaiva vindhyaculikāḥ pulindā valkalaiḥ saha | mālavā ballavāś caiva tathaivāparaballavāḥ ||
Sañjaya continued: “Likewise there are the Vindhya-Cūlikas; the Pulindas together with the Valkalas; the Mālavas; the Ballavas; and also the Aparaballavas.” In this catalogue of peoples, the epic widens the moral horizon of the war: the conflict draws in (or is witnessed by) many frontier and regional communities, underscoring the vast social world affected by the struggle of the Kurus.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse functions less as a doctrinal teaching and more as an ethical reminder of scale: a dynastic war implicates many lands and communities, suggesting that adharma in rulers spreads suffering widely beyond the immediate protagonists.
Sañjaya is reciting a geographical-ethnographic catalogue of peoples (janapadas/tribes) in the context of the Kurukṣetra war narrative, naming groups associated with the Vindhya and other regions.