Shloka 45

Śākadvīpa–Pramāṇa–Varṇana

Measurements and Description of Śākadvīpa

Devanagari script

अष्टपञ्चाशतं राजन्‌ विपुलत्वेन चानघ । श्रूयते परमोदार: पतगो5सौ विभावसु:,कुरुनन्दन! सूर्यका व्यासगत विस्तार दस हजार योजन है और उनकी परिधि या मण्डलका विस्तार तीस हजार योजन है तथा उनकी विपुलता अद्बावन सौ योजनकी है। अनघ! इस प्रकार शीघ्रगामी परम उदार भगवान्‌ सूर्यके त्रिविध विस्तारका वर्णन सुना जाता है

Transliteration

aṣṭapañcāśataṁ rājan vipulatvena cānagha | śrūyate paramodāraḥ patago 'sau vibhāvasuḥ ||

Translation

Sañjaya berkata: “Wahai Raja, wahai yang tidak berdosa! Matahari—Vibhāvasu, sang cahaya ‘bersayap’ yang amat pemurah dan bergerak pantas—dikatakan mempunyai keluasan yang besar, lima puluh lapan (ratus) pada lebarnya.”

Word by Word

• {'aṣṭa': 'eight', 'pañcāśat': 'fifty', 'aṣṭapañcāśatam': 'fifty-eight (often used in such contexts with an implied ‘hundred’ as a unit of measure)', 'rājan': 'O king (address to Dhṛtarāṣṭra)', 'vipulatvena': 'in vastness

• in breadth/expanse', 'ca': 'and', 'anagha': 'O blameless one

• sinless (honorific address)', 'śrūyate': 'is heard

• is traditionally reported', 'parama-udāraḥ': 'supremely generous/noble (epithet)', 'patagaḥ': 'bird

• ‘winged one’ (metaphor for the Sun moving across the sky)', 'asau': 'that (well-known one)', 'vibhāvasuḥ': 'Vibhāvasu, the Sun

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Dhṛtarāṣṭra
• Sūrya (Vibhāvasu)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores a traditional cosmological vision in which the Sun is described with measured vastness and praised as “paramodāra” (supremely beneficent). Ethically, it evokes reverence for the ordered cosmos (ṛta) that sustains life and, by extension, reminds rulers to align governance with that sustaining order.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya continues reporting traditional accounts to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra, describing the Sun (Vibhāvasu) with a stated measure of its ‘breadth/expanse,’ using honorific addresses (“rājan,” “anagha”) and a metaphor (“pataga,” the winged one) for the Sun’s swift course.