Shloka 21

भीष्मदर्शनार्थं प्रस्थानम्

Departure to Behold Bhīṣma

Devanagari script

बलाहकं मेघपुष्पं शैब्यं सुग्रीवमेव च

Transliteration

balāhakaṁ meghapuṣpaṁ śaibyaṁ sugrīvam eva ca

Translation

‘ബലാഹക’, ‘മേഘപുഷ്പ’, ‘ശൈബ്യ’, കൂടാതെ ‘സുഗ്രീവ’—ഇവയും (നാമങ്ങൾ) ആയിരുന്നു।

Word by Word

• बलाहकम्: Balāhaka (a proper name)
• बलाहकम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: बलाहक
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• मेघपुष्पम्: Meghapuṣpa (a proper name; lit. 'cloud-flower')
• मेघपुष्पम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: मेघपुष्प
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• शैब्यम्: Śaibya (a proper name)
• शैब्यम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: शैब्य
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• सुग्रीवम्: Sugrīva (a proper name; lit. 'good-necked')
• सुग्रीवम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: सुग्रीव
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• एव: indeed/just
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Balāhaka
• Meghapuṣpa
• Śaibya
• Sugrīva
• Vaiśampāyana

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

This line functions as a cataloguing verse: it preserves and transmits remembered names within a larger discourse. The ethical value lies in śruti-smṛti style continuity—maintaining lineage, exemplars, and historical memory that support dharma through tradition.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana continues a list of named figures (or named beings such as horses/attendants, depending on the immediate context of the chapter), enumerating Balāhaka, Meghapuṣpa, Śaibya, and Sugrīva as part of a longer account in Śānti Parva.