Shloka 3

ब्राह्मण–क्षत्रिय-श्रेष्ठता-विवादः

Arjuna–Vāyu Dialogue on Brāhmaṇa and Kṣatriya Precedence

Devanagari script

अतितेजस्विन: सर्वे महावीर्या महागजा: । धारयन्ति महीं कृत्स्नां सशैलवनकाननाम्‌

Transliteration

atitejasvinaḥ sarve mahāvīryā mahāgajāḥ | dhārayanti mahīṁ kṛtsnāṁ saśailavanakānanām ||

Translation

「かの方位の大象（ディッグガジャ）らは、ことごとく光威すさまじく、大いなる力を具える。彼らは山々と森と林苑を含む全大地を支えている。」

Word by Word

• अतितेजस्विनः: exceedingly radiant/very powerful
• अतितेजस्विनः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अतितेजस्विन्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• सर्वे: all
• सर्वे: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सर्व
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• महावीर्याः: of great strength/energy
• महावीर्याः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: महावीर्य
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• महागजाः: great elephants (diggajas)
• महागजाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: महागज
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• धारयन्ति: they bear/support
• धारयन्ति: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: धृ
• Form: Present, Third, Plural, Parasmaipada

• महीं: the earth
• महीं: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: मही
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• कृत्स्नाम्: entire/whole
• कृत्स्नाम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: कृत्स्न
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• सशैलवनकाननाम्: together with mountains, forests, and groves
• सशैलवनकाननाम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: स-शैल-वन-कानन
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• mahāgaja (diggaja)
• mahī (earth)
• śaila (mountains)
• vana (forests)
• kānana (groves/woodlands)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the idea of cosmic order: powerful beings (diggajas) symbolically sustain the world. Ethically, it implies that strength and brilliance are meant for supporting and stabilizing the larger whole, not for disruption.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma is describing the mighty elephants associated with the quarters (diggajas), portraying them as extraordinarily powerful supports of the earth along with its natural features—mountains and forests—within a mythic-cosmological frame.