Shloka 48

Varṣa-Parvata-Nivāsinām Varnanam

Description of Regions, Mountains, and Their Inhabitants

Devanagari script

अटवीशिखराश्रैव मेरुभूताश्न मारिष । उपावृत्तानुपावृत्ता: स्वराष्ट्रा: केकयास्तथा

Transliteration

aṭavī-śikharāś caiva meru-bhūtāś ca māriṣa | upāvṛttānupāvṛttāḥ sva-rāṣṭrāḥ kekayās tathā ||

Translation

ಸಂಜಯನು ಹೇಳಿದನು—ಹೇ ಮಾರಿಷ, ಅರಣ್ಯಶಿಖರಗಳಂತೆ ಮತ್ತು ಮೇರುವಿನಂತೆ ಅಚಲ ಪರಾಕ್ರಮಿಗಳಾದ ಯೋಧರೂ ಇದ್ದರು. ಸ್ವರಾಷ್ಟ್ರರು ಮತ್ತು ಕೇಕಯರು ಮುಂದಕ್ಕೆ ಸಾಗುತ್ತಾ ಮತ್ತೆ ಹಿಂದಿರುಗುತ್ತಾ—ಮರುಮರು ತಿರುಗಾಡುತ್ತಾ ಕಾಣಿಸಿಕೊಂಡರು.

Word by Word

अटवीforest

शिखराःpeaks/summits

इवlike/as

मेरुभूताःbecome like Meru (mountain-like)

नnot

मारिषO noble one / sir

उपावृत्तान्returned/turned back

अनुपावृत्ताःfollowing (them), having turned back after

स्वराष्ट्राःthe Svarāṣṭras (a people/tribe)

केकयाःthe Kekayas (a people/tribe)

तथाalso/likewise

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Mount Meru

Svārāṣṭra

Kekaya

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the unstable, wave-like nature of battle: even the mighty must sometimes withdraw and return. Ethically, it underscores endurance and steadiness—true strength is not only in charging forward but in maintaining resolve amid reversals.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes groups of warriors—likened to forest-peaks and to Mount Meru—moving in the combat zone. The Svārāṣṭras and Kekayas are specifically noted as repeatedly wheeling back and returning, indicating intense clashes, tactical repositioning, and fluctuating momentum.