Shloka 34
Śākadvīpa–Pramāṇa–Varṇana
Measurements and Description of Śākadvīpa
कुरुनन्दन! भरतश्रेष्ठ)! वहाँ लोकविख्यात वामन, ऐरावत, सुप्रतीक और अंजन--ये चार दिग्गज रहते हैं ।। सुप्रतीकस्तथा राजन् प्रभिन्नकरटामुख: । तस्याहं परिमाणं तु न संख्यातुमिहोत्सहे
kurunandana bharataśreṣṭha tatra lokavikhyātā vāmana airāvata supratīka añjana iti catvāro diggajāḥ tiṣṭhanti || supratīkastathā rājan prabhinnakaraṭāmukhaḥ | tasyāhaṃ parimāṇaṃ tu na saṅkhyātum ihotsahe ||
サンジャヤは言った。「クル族の喜びよ、バーラタ族の最勝者よ！ その方角には、世に名高き四頭の方位守護象――ヴァーマナ、アイラーヴァタ、スプラティーカ、アニャナ――が住まう。さらにスプラティーカは、王よ、発情の猛りにこめかみより液を滴らせる面貌を持つ。その広大なる体躯の量りを、ここで私は数え上げようとはしない。」
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the epic’s cosmological imagination: certain beings are portrayed as vast, world-renowned guardians of the directions. Sanjaya’s admission that he cannot ‘compute’ Supratīka’s measure highlights human limitation before the immensity of cosmic order, a reminder that power and scale in the Mahābhārata extend beyond the battlefield.
Sanjaya continues his description to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra, listing the four famed diggajas—Vāmana, Airāvata, Supratīka, and Añjana—associated with a particular quarter. He singles out Supratīka as being in musth (rut flowing from the temples) and says he does not dare to state or calculate his enormous size.