Shloka 5
Ādi Parva 117 — Pāṇḍu’s Obsequies, Escort of the Pāṇḍavas, and Reception at Nāgasāhvaya
Hastināpura
दुर्मदो दुर्विगाहश्न विवित्सुर्विकटानन: । ऊर्णनाभ: सुनाभश्न तथा नन्दोपनन्दकौ
Vaiśampāyana uvāca: durmado durvigāhaś ca vivitsuḥ vikaṭānanaḥ | ūrṇanābhaḥ sunābhaś ca tathā nandopanandakau ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “(O Janamejaya,) among Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s sons were Durmada, Durvigāha, Vivitsu, Vikaṭānana, Ūrṇanābha, Sunābha, and also the two brothers Nanda and Upananda.” In this section the narrator continues the formal cataloguing of the Kaurava offspring—an epic device that frames the coming conflict as the outcome of an immense lineage and the weight of inherited power.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse itself is primarily genealogical rather than doctrinal: it underscores how the epic’s moral and political crisis arises within a vast royal lineage. By naming the Kauravas in sequence, the text emphasizes the scale of inherited power and the collective responsibility that will shape dharma and adharma in the coming war.
Vaiśampāyana continues reciting to King Janamejaya the names of Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s sons. This verse lists a specific set of Kaurava princes—Durmada through Nanda and Upananda—as part of the larger enumeration of the hundred sons.