Mahabharata 2.9.21 — Sabha Parva, Adhyaya 9, Shloka 21

वारुणी सभा — Varuṇa’s Divine Assembly

Nārada’s Description

Devanagari script

तृतीया, ज्येष्ठलिला, महानद शोण, चर्मण्वती, पर्णाशा, महानदी,

Transliteration

tṛtīyā, jyeṣṭhalīlā, mahānadā śoṇaḥ, carmaṇvatī, parṇāśā, mahānadī

Translation

नारद पुढे म्हणाले—तृतीया, ज्येष्ठलिला, महानद शोण, चर्मण्वती, पर्णाशा आणि आणखी एक महानदी—या प्रसिद्ध नद्या आहेत.

Word by Word

• तृतीया: the third (river/name)
• तृतीया: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: तृतीय
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• ज्येष्ठलिला: Jyeṣṭhalīlā (a river/name)
• ज्येष्ठलिला: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: ज्येष्ठलिला
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• महानदः: Mahānada (a river/name)
• महानदः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: महानद
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• शोणः: Śoṇa (river Son)
• शोणः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: शोण
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• चर्मण्वती: Carmanvatī (river Chambal)
• चर्मण्वती: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: चर्मण्वती
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• पर्णाशा: Parṇāśā (a river/name)
• पर्णाशा: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: पर्णाशा
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• महानदी: Mahānadī (river Mahanadi)
• महानदी: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: महानदी
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

नारद उवाच

Characters & Entities

• नारद (Nārada)
• तृतीया (Tṛtīyā river)
• ज्येष्ठलिला (Jyeṣṭhalīlā river)
• शोण (Śoṇa river)
• चर्मण्वती (Carmaṇvatī river)
• पर्णाशा (Parṇāśā river)
• महानदी (Mahānadī / great river)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores the Mahābhārata’s view of the land as ethically and ritually meaningful: remembering rivers is part of remembering dharmic space—sources of sustenance, purification, and cultural continuity.

What is happening in the narrative?

Nārada is reciting a list of rivers, continuing a broader descriptive catalogue that maps important regions and waterways within the epic’s world.