Shloka 43

Devanagari script

विष्कम्भेण कुरुश्रेष्ठ त्रयस्त्रिंशत्‌ तु मण्डलम्‌ । एकोनषष्टिविष्कम्भं शीतरश्मेर्महात्मन:,कुरुश्रेष्ठ उनकी परिधि या मण्डलका विस्तार तैंतीस हजार योजन बताया गया है और महामना शीतरश्मि चन्द्रमाका वैपुल्यगत विस्तार (मोटाई) उनसठ सौ योजन है

Transliteration

viṣkambheṇa kuruśreṣṭha trayastriṃśat tu maṇḍalam | ekonaṣaṣṭiviṣkambhaṃ śītaraśmer mahātmanaḥ ||

Translation

സഞ്ജയൻ പറഞ്ഞു—കുരുശ്രേഷ്ഠാ! അതിന്റെ മണ്ഡലത്തിന്റെ (പരിസരത്തിന്റെ) അളവ് മുപ്പത്തിമൂന്നായിരം യോജനയെന്ന് വർണ്ണിക്കപ്പെടുന്നു. മഹാത്മാവായ ശീതരശ്മി—ചന്ദ്രന്റെ കനം അമ്പത്തൊമ്പത് നൂറുകൾ, അഥവാ അയ്യായിരത്തി ഒൻപതിനൂറ് യോജന.

Word by Word

विष्कम्भेणby/with the diameter

कुरुश्रेष्ठO best of the Kurus

त्रयस्त्रिंशत्thirty-three

तुindeed/but

मण्डलम्orb/circle

एकोनषष्टि-विष्कम्भम्having a diameter of fifty-nine

शीत-रश्मेःof the cool-rayed one (the Moon)

महात्मनःof the great-souled

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Kuruśreṣṭha (Dhṛtarāṣṭra, implied addressee)

Śītaraśmi (the Moon)

maṇḍala (orb/disk)

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 emphasizes a cosmos governed by intelligible order and proportion. By presenting precise measures of celestial bodies, it situates human conflict within a larger, structured reality—suggesting that dharma and action unfold under an overarching cosmic regularity.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya continues describing cosmic and astronomical details to Dhṛtarāṣṭra, giving measurements of a celestial orb and specifically the Moon (Śītaraśmi). This forms part of a broader descriptive passage that frames the events of the war within a vast cosmological context.