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Shloka 1

Mahāprasthānika-parva Adhyāya 2: The Northward March, Sight of Himavat and Meru, and the Sequential Falls

Devanagari script

इस प्रकार श्रीमह्या भारत महाप्रस्थानिकपर्वमें पहला अध्याय पूरा हुआ,पम्प छा अर: द्वितीयो&्ध्याय: मार्ममें द्रौपदी, सहदेव, नकुल, अर्जुन और भीमसेनका गिरना तथा युधिष्ठिरद्वारा प्रत्येकके गिरनेका कारण बताया जाना वैशम्पायन उवाच ततस्ते नियतात्मान उदीचीं दिशमास्थिता: । ददृशुर्योगयुक्ताश्व हिमवन्तं महागिरिम्‌

Transliteration

Vaiśampāyana uvāca: tatas te niyatātmāna udīcīṃ diśam āsthitāḥ | dadṛśur yoga-yuktāśvaṃ Himavantaṃ mahāgirim ||

Translation

വൈശമ്പായനൻ പറഞ്ഞു—അപ്പോൾ ആ നിയതാത്മാക്കൾ ഉത്തരദിശയെ ആശ്രയിച്ച് പുറപ്പെട്ടു; യോഗത്തിൽ സ്ഥാപിതരായി അവർ മഹാഗിരിയായ ഹിമവാനെ ദർശിച്ചു.

Word by Word

वैशम्पायनःVaiśampāyana

उवाचsaid

ततःthen, thereafter

तेthey

नियतात्मानःself-controlled

उदीचीम्northern

दिशम्direction

आस्थिताःhaving set out / having taken (to)

ददृशुःthey saw

योगयुक्ताश्वम्whose horses are yoked (to a chariot)

हिमवन्तम्Himālaya (Himavat)

महागिरिम्the great mountain

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Himavat (Himalaya)

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 foregrounds niyama (self-restraint) as the defining virtue at life’s end: the protagonists move north not as conquerors but as disciplined seekers, implying that ethical mastery of the self surpasses external sovereignty.

What is happening in the narrative?

After beginning their great departure, the party proceeds toward the northern direction and comes into sight of Himavat, the great Himalayan mountain—an important landmark on the Mahāprasthāna (final journey).