Shloka 20
Adhyāya 8: Saṃprahāra-varṇana and Bhīma–Kṣemadhūrti Dvipa-Yuddha
Combat Description and Elephant Duel
वत्सान् कलिड्रांस्तरलानश्मकानृषिकानपि । (शबरान् परहृणांश्व प्रहूणान् सरलानपि । म्लेच्छराष्ट्राधिपां श्वैव दुर्गानाटविकांस्तथा ।।
vaiśampāyana uvāca |
vatsān kaliṅgāṁs taralān aśmakān ṛṣikān api |
(śabarān parahūṇāṁś ca prahūṇān saralān api |
mleccharāṣṭrādhipāṁś caiva durgānāṭavikāṁs tathā ||)
jitvaitān samare vīraḥ śakre balibhṛtaḥ purā |
Vaiśampāyana berkata: Wira itu, setelah menewaskan dan menundukkan di medan perang bangsa Vatsa, Kaliṅga, Tarala, Aśmaka dan Ṛṣika—bersama kaum Śabara, Parahūṇa, Prahūṇa, Sarala, para penguasa wilayah Mleccha, serta para pejuang yang mendiami kubu-kubu dan rimba—pada masa lampau telah menjadikan mereka semua pembayar ufti kepada Indra (Śakra).
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames conquest as the establishment of sovereignty through tribute (bali), reflecting an epic ideal of political order: a ruler’s power is validated by bringing diverse peoples under a structured hierarchy rather than depicting victory as mere violence.
The narrator lists many regions and groups said to have been defeated in earlier campaigns by a ‘hero,’ who then made them tributaries to Śakra (Indra). The catalogue functions as a rhetorical proof of overwhelming might and wide-ranging dominance.