Shloka 17

Adhyāya 108: Paścima-dik—Varuṇa’s Realm, Sunset Cosmology, and Sacred-Geographic Markers

Suparṇa–Gālava संवाद

Devanagari script

अत्र चक्रधनुर्नाम सूर्याज्जातो महानृषि:

Transliteration

atra cakradhanuḥ nāma sūryāj jāto mahān ṛṣiḥ

Translation

ここにもまた、太陽より生まれし大リシ、チャクラダヌ（Cakradhanu）という者がいた。太陽の血統に連なる聖仙を呼び起こすことで、後に続く語りは神聖なる系譜と法（ダルマ）の権威に据えられ、引かれる訓戒や先例が単なる世俗の策ではなく、尊き伝統により是認されたものであることを示す。

Word by Word

अत्रhere

चand

चक्रधनुःChakradhanu (name of a sage; lit. 'wheel-bow')

नामby name / named

सूर्यात्from the Sun

जातःborn

महान्great

ऋषिःsage

Speaker

युपर्ण उवाच

Characters & Entities

Cakradhanu

Sūrya

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse establishes moral and narrative authority by citing an eminent, solar-born ṛṣi. In the Mahābhārata, invoking such lineage signals that the guidance or example to follow is rooted in dharmic tradition rather than mere expediency.

What is happening in the narrative?

Yuparṇa introduces a figure: a great sage named Cakradhanu, said to be born from Sūrya. This functions as a transition into a related account or precedent connected with that sage.