Mahabharata — Sabha Parva, Shloka 3

वारुणी सभा — Varuṇa’s Divine Assembly

Nārada’s Description

Devanagari script

नीलपीतासितश्यामै: सितैलॉहितकैरपि । अवतानैस्तथा गुल्मैर्मज्जरीजालधारिभि:

Transliteration

nīlapītāsitaśyāmaiḥ sitailohitakair api | avatānaiḥ tathā gulmair mañjarījāladhāribhiḥ ||

Translation

នារ​ទៈពិពណ៌នាថា៖ តំបន់នានានៃសាលានោះ ត្រូវបានគ្របដណ្ដប់ដោយវល្លិ និងព្រៃរុក្ខជាតិពណ៌ខៀវ លឿង ខ្មៅ ស ស្រអែម និងក្រហម។ វល្លិទាំងនោះកាន់កាប់ជាចង្កោមផ្កាដ៏ស្រស់ស្អាត ដូចជាសំណាញ់ផ្កាដែលព្យួរចុះ។

Word by Word

• नीलपीतासितश्यामैः: with (things) of blue, yellow, black, and dark color
• नीलपीतासितश्यामैः: Karana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: नील-पीत-असित-श्याम
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Instrumental, Plural

• सितैः: with white (ones)
• सितैः: Karana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सित
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Instrumental, Plural

• लोहितकैः: with reddish (ones)
• लोहितकैः: Karana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: लोहितक
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Instrumental, Plural

• अपि: also/even
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अपि

• अवतानेैः: with festoons/garlands/creepers (hanging decorations)
• अवतानेैः: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: अवताण (अवताने)
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Instrumental, Plural

• तथा: and likewise
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा

• गुल्मैः: with shrubs/bushes
• गुल्मैः: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: गुल्म
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Plural

• मज्जरीजालधारिभिः: with (those) bearing nets/clusters of flower-bunches
• मज्जरीजालधारिभिः: Karana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: मज्जरी-जाल-धारिन्
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Instrumental, Plural

Speaker

नारद उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Nārada
• sabhā (royal assembly hall)
• avatāna (creepers/vines)
• gulma (shrubs)
• mañjarī-jāla (networks of flower-clusters)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse primarily functions as vivid description rather than direct moral instruction; indirectly, it highlights how external magnificence and cultivated beauty can frame—and sometimes mask—deeper ethical and political tensions that unfold in the royal court.

What is happening in the narrative?

Nārada is describing the assembly hall’s interior adornment: various areas are covered with multicolored creepers and shrubs, richly laden with attractive clusters of blossoms, emphasizing the hall’s extraordinary, almost enchanted grandeur.