Shloka 39

Devanagari script

दधिकुल्याश्व ददृशु: सर्पिषश्व हृदान्‌ जना: । जम्बूद्वीपो हि सकलो नानाजनपदायुतः

Transliteration

dadhikulyāś ca dadṛśuḥ sarpiṣaś ca hradān janāḥ | jambūdvīpo hi sakalo nānājanapadāyutaḥ ||

Translation

ജനങ്ങൾ തൈരിന്റെ ഒഴുക്കുകളും നെയ്യാൽ നിറഞ്ഞ തടാകങ്ങളും കണ്ടു. അനേകം ജനപദങ്ങളാൽ സമൃദ്ധമായ സമസ്ത ജംബൂദ്വീപും അവിടെ തന്നെയുണ്ടെന്നപോലെ തോന്നി.

Word by Word

दधिcurd

कुल्याchannels, trenches

चand

ददृशुःthey saw

सर्पिषःghee (clarified butter)

चand

ह्रदान्lakes, pools

जनाःpeople

जम्बूद्वीपःJambūdvīpa (the continent called Jambū)

हिindeed, for

सकलःentire, whole

नानाvarious, diverse

जनपदcountries, realms

आयुतःendowed with, furnished with

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Jambūdvīpa

dadhikulyāḥ (streams of curd)

sarpiṣ-hradāḥ (lakes of ghee)

janapadāḥ (realms/territories)

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 uses hyperbolic imagery of curd-streams and ghee-lakes to signal auspicious abundance generated by righteous ritual action; prosperity is portrayed as a public, shared good that accompanies ordered kingship and sacrificial duty.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana describes what people witnessed: extraordinary manifestations of plenty—streams of curd and lakes of ghee—spreading across the vast, many-territoried Jambūdvīpa, in the context of the Ashvamedhika narrative’s grand ritual setting.