Shloka 24

सेनासमागमः — The Convergence of Armies

Devanagari script

महीपालो महावीर्यर्दक्षिणापथवासिभि: । इसी प्रकार माहिष्मती पुरीके निवासी राजा नील भी दक्षिण देशके रहनेवाले श्यामवर्णके शस्त्रधारी महापराक्रमी सैनिकोंके साथ दुर्योधनके पक्षमें आये ।। आवलन्त्यौ च महीपालौ महाबलसुसंवृतौ

Transliteration

mahīpālo mahāvīryo dakṣiṇāpathavāsibhiḥ | āvalantyau ca mahīpālau mahābalasusamvṛtau ||

Translation

ヴァイシャンパーヤナは語った。「大いなる武威を備えた強王が、ダクシナーパタ（南方の地）の戦士たちを伴って来た。同じく、マーヒシュマティーの都の王ニ―ラも、肌黒く武器を携えた南方の精鋭大軍を率い、ドゥルヨーダナを助けんとして到来した。さらにアヴァンティの二王も、強大な軍勢に囲まれて現れた。」

Word by Word

• आवलन्त्यौ: the two (kings) from Avanti/Avanti region
• आवलन्त्यौ: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: आवलन्त्य (जनपद/देशवाचक-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Dual

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• महीपालौ: the two kings (protectors of the earth)
• महीपालौ: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: महीपाल (मही + पाल)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Dual

• महाबलसुसंवृतौ: well-surrounded/attended by great strength (mighty forces)
• महाबलसुसंवृतौ: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: महाबलसुसंवृत (महाबल + सुसंवृत)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Dual

Speaker

वैशमग्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśaṃpāyana
• Duryodhana
• Nīla
• Māhiṣmatī
• Dakṣiṇāpatha
• Avanti (two kings)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The passage highlights how political ambition and impending war draw rulers into alliances; it implicitly raises the ethical tension between loyalty to a faction and the broader demands of dharma, since many powerful kings choose sides before fully weighing the righteousness of the cause.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Udyoga Parva’s war-preparation sequence, southern rulers and their troops—especially King Nīla of Māhiṣmatī and the two kings of Avanti—are listed among those who come to support Duryodhana, showing the widening coalition on the Kaurava side.