Shloka 15
Varṣa-Parvata-Nivāsinām Varnanam
Description of Regions, Mountains, and Their Inhabitants
शतद्रू चन्द्रभागां च यमुनां च महानदीम् । दृषद्वतीं विपाशां च विपापां स्थूलवालुकाम्
sañjaya uvāca |
śatadrūṃ candrabhāgāṃ ca yamunāṃ ca mahānadīm |
dṛṣadvatīṃ vipāśāṃ ca vipāpāṃ sthūlavālukām ||
സഞ്ജയൻ പറഞ്ഞു—(ഭാരതഭൂമിയിൽ) ശതദ്രൂ, ചന്ദ്രഭാഗാ, യമുന, മഹാനദി; അതുപോലെ ദൃഷദ്വതി, വിപാശാ, വിപാപാ, സ്ഥൂലവാലുകാ എന്നീ പുണ്യനദികളും ഉണ്ട്.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse’s main value is contextual: it frames the Kurukṣetra narrative within the larger, life-sustaining landscape of Bhārata. By naming rivers, the text evokes shared resources and a common civilizational space, implicitly reminding rulers that power and war occur within a broader moral and ecological order that supports all communities.
Sanjaya continues a geographical catalogue, listing major rivers of Bhārata. This occurs as part of a wider description that situates the impending/ongoing war in a detailed map-like account of lands, peoples, and waterways.