Shloka 53

समन्तपञ्चक-आख्यानम् तथा अक्षौहिणी-प्रमाणनिर्णयः

Samantapañcaka Narrative and the Measure of an Akṣauhiṇī

Devanagari script

निवातकवचैरय्युद्ध पर्व चाजगरं ततः । मार्कण्डेयसमास्या च पर्वानन्तरमुच्यते,इसके पश्चात्‌ निवातकवचयुद्ध, आजगर और मार्कण्डेयसमास्यापर्व क्रमश: कहे गये हैं

Transliteration

nivātakavacair yuddha-parva cājagaraṃ tataḥ | mārkaṇḍeya-samāsyā ca parvānantaram ucyate ||

Translation

यानंतर क्रमाने ‘निवातकवच-युद्ध’ पर्व, ‘आजगर’ पर्व आणि ‘मार्कण्डेय-समास्या’ पर्व कथन केले आहे।

Word by Word

निवातकवचैःby/with the Nivātakavacas

युद्धम्battle

पर्वsection (parvan)

चand

आजगरम्Ajagara (the Ajagara episode/section)

ततःthereafter

मार्कण्डेयसमास्याःthe Mārkaṇḍeya-samāsyā(s) (sections relating to Mārkaṇḍeya)

चand

पर्वsection (parvan)

अनन्तरम्next, immediately after

उच्यतेis said/recited

Speaker

राम उवाच

Characters & Entities

Nivātakavacas

Ajagara

Mārkaṇḍeya

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse emphasizes orderly transmission of sacred history: the Mahābhārata is not a random collection but a carefully sequenced set of parvas, each offering moral and dharmic exempla—through warfare narratives, allegorical encounters (like the Ajagara), and sage-instruction (Mārkaṇḍeya).

What is happening in the narrative?

The speaker is enumerating the next sections to be narrated, naming in sequence the Nivātakavaca battle section, the Ajagara episode, and the Mārkaṇḍeya Samāsyā section, indicating what comes next in the epic’s internal table of contents.