Mahabharata 3.147.21 — Vana Parva, Adhyaya 147, Shloka 21

Bhīmasena–Hanūmān Saṃvāda: The Tail Test and the Divine Path

Devanagari script

स यक्षगन्धर्वसुरब्रद्मर्षिगणसेवितम्‌ । विलोकयामास तदा पुष्पहेतोररिंदम:

Transliteration

sa yakṣagandharvasurabrahmarṣigaṇasevitam | vilokayāmāsa tadā puṣpahetor arindamaḥ ||

Translation

അപ്പോൾ ശത്രുദമനനായ ഭീമസേനൻ ആ പുഷ്പങ്ങൾ നേടുവാൻ യക്ഷന്മാർ, ഗന്ധർവന്മാർ, ദേവന്മാർ, ബ്രഹ്മർഷിഗണങ്ങൾ എന്നിവരാൽ സേവിക്കപ്പെടുന്ന ആ വിശാല പർവതത്തെ ചുറ്റും ദൃഷ്ടിയാൽ നിരീക്ഷിച്ചു।

Word by Word

• सः: he (Bhimasena)
• सः: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• यक्षगन्धर्वसुरब्रह्मर्षिगणसेवितम्: served/attended by the hosts of Yakshas, Gandharvas, gods, and Brahmarshis
• यक्षगन्धर्वसुरब्रह्मर्षिगणसेवितम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सेवित (सेव् + क्त)
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• विलोकयामास: looked at, surveyed
• Type: Verb
• Root: विलोक्
• Form: Perfect (Periphrastic), Third, Singular, Parasmaipada

• तदा: then, at that time
• तदा: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तदा

• पुष्पहेतोः: for the sake of the flower(s)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पुष्पहेतु
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Singular

• अरिंदमः: enemy-subduer (epithet)
• अरिंदमः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: अरिंदम
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Bhīmasena (Bhīma)
• Yakṣas
• Gandharvas
• Devas (Suras)
• Brahmarṣis
• Mountain (parvata)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even a powerful hero should act with restraint and reverence in sacred spaces; strength is meant to serve a purposeful aim (here, the quest for flowers) rather than ego or aggression.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīma, intent on obtaining the desired flowers, surveys a great mountain that is inhabited and honored by celestial and semi-divine beings—signaling that his quest is entering a holy, guarded realm.