Shloka 9
Varuṇābhiṣeka–Agni-anveṣaṇa–Kaubera-tīrtha
Varuṇa’s Consecration; Search for Agni; Kaubera Sacred Site
पद्मावती सुनक्षत्रा कन्दरा बहुयोजना । संतानिका च कौरव्य कमला च महाबला
padmāvatī sunakṣatrā kandarā bahuyojanā | saṃtānikā ca kauravya kamalā ca mahābalā ||
ವೈಶಂಪಾಯನನು ಹೇಳಿದನು— “ಓ ಕೌರವ್ಯ, ಪದ್ಮಾವತೀ, ಸುನಕ್ಷತ್ರಾ, ಕಂದರಾ—ಅದು ಅನೇಕ ಯೋಜನಗಳವರೆಗೆ ವಿಸ್ತರಿಸಿದ್ದದು—ಸಂತಾನಿಕಾ ಮತ್ತು ಕಮಲಾ; ಇವೆಲ್ಲವೂ ಮಹಾಬಲ (ಅತಿವಿಶಾಲ, ದುರ್ಜೇಯ)ವಾಗಿದ್ದವು.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse primarily functions as epic cataloguing: it underscores the vastness and formidable nature of the terrain (or regions/caverns) being described. Ethically, such descriptions in the Mahābhārata often frame how environment and circumstance can intensify human conflict and test endurance, discipline, and resolve.
Vaiśampāyana continues a descriptive enumeration addressed to Janamejaya (called ‘Kauravya’), listing named places/regions (often understood as caves, ravines, or stretches of terrain) and characterizing them as extensive (‘many yojanas’) and formidable (‘mahābalā’).