Shloka 21

Devanagari script

निमेषान्तरमात्रेण शुकाभिपतनं ययौ । स ददर्श द्विधा कृत्वा पर्वताग्रं शुकं गतम्‌,महातपस्वी व्यासजी दूसरी महायोगसम्बन्धिनी गतिका अवलम्बन करके ऊपरको उठे और पलक मारते-मारते उस स्थानपर जा पहुँचे, जहाँसे उन पर्वत-शिखरोंको दो भागोंमें विदीर्ण करके शुकदेवजी आगे बढ़े थे। वह स्थान शुकाभिपतनके नामसे प्रसिद्ध हो गया था। उन्होंने उस स्थानको देखा

Transliteration

nimeṣāntaramātreṇa śukābhipatanaṃ yayau | sa dadarśa dvidhā kṛtvā parvatāgraṃ śukaṃ gatam |

Translation

ಭೀಷ್ಮನು ಹೇಳಿದನು—ಒಂದು ಕಣ್ಣು ಮಿಟುಕಿಸುವಷ್ಟರಲ್ಲಿ ಅವನು ‘ಶುಕಾಭಿಪತನ’ವೆಂದು ಕರೆಯಲ್ಪಡುವ ಸ್ಥಳಕ್ಕೆ ತಲುಪಿದನು. ಅಲ್ಲಿ ಶುಕನು ಪರ್ವತಶಿಖರವನ್ನು ಎರಡು ಭಾಗವಾಗಿ ವಿಭಜಿಸಿ ಮುಂದಕ್ಕೆ ಹೋದದ್ದನ್ನು ಅವನು ಕಂಡನು।

Word by Word

निमेष-अन्तर-मात्रेणin (by) merely the interval of a blink

शुक-अभिपतनम्the descent/flight of Śuka (to that place)

ययौwent, reached

सःhe

ददर्शsaw

द्विधाinto two (parts), in two ways

कृत्वाhaving made, having split

पर्वत-अग्रम्the mountain-peak/summit

शुकम्Śuka

गतम्gone, having proceeded

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

Śuka (Śukadeva)

Śukābhipatana (place)

parvatāgra (mountain-peak)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores the power of yogic accomplishment and the idea that the movement of a realized sage can consecrate a place, turning it into a remembered sacred site; it implicitly commends reverence for spiritual attainment and the ethical authority of renunciant wisdom.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma describes reaching (in an instant) the spot called Śukābhipatana and witnessing the mark of Śuka’s passage—Śuka had advanced by cleaving the mountain summit into two, and that extraordinary event gave the place its name.