Shloka 9
Varuṇābhiṣeka–Agni-anveṣaṇa–Kaubera-tīrtha
Varuṇa’s Consecration; Search for Agni; Kaubera Sacred Site
पद्मावती सुनक्षत्रा कन्दरा बहुयोजना । संतानिका च कौरव्य कमला च महाबला
padmāvatī sunakṣatrā kandarā bahuyojanā | saṃtānikā ca kauravya kamalā ca mahābalā ||
വൈശമ്പായനൻ പറഞ്ഞു— “ഹേ കൗരവ്യ, പദ്മാവതി, സുനക്ഷത്രാ, കന്ദരാ—അത് അനേകം യോജനകൾ വരെ വ്യാപിച്ചിരുന്നതു—സന്താനികാ, കമലാ; ഇവയൊക്കെയും മഹാബലങ്ങൾ (അത്യന്തം വിശാലവും ഭയങ്കരവും) ആയിരുന്നു.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse primarily functions as epic cataloguing: it underscores the vastness and formidable nature of the terrain (or regions/caverns) being described. Ethically, such descriptions in the Mahābhārata often frame how environment and circumstance can intensify human conflict and test endurance, discipline, and resolve.
Vaiśampāyana continues a descriptive enumeration addressed to Janamejaya (called ‘Kauravya’), listing named places/regions (often understood as caves, ravines, or stretches of terrain) and characterizing them as extensive (‘many yojanas’) and formidable (‘mahābalā’).