Shloka 20
Śakrasya Divyā Sabhā
Indra’s Radiant Assembly Hall
अर्थो धर्मश्न कामश्न विद्युतश्वैव पाण्डव | जलवाहस्तथा मेघा वायव: स्तनयित्नव:,भरतवंशी नरेश पाण्डुनन्दन! सहदेव, सुनीथ, महातपस्वी वाल्मीकि, सत्यवादी शमीक, सत्यप्रतिज्ञ प्रचेता, मेधातिथि, वामदेव, पुलस्त्य, पुलह, क्रतु, मरुत्त, मरीचि, महातपस्वी स्थाणु, कक्षीवान्, गौतम, तार्क्ष्य, वैश्वानर मुनि, षडर्तु, कवष, धूम्र, रैभ्य, नल, परावसु, स्वस्त्यात्रेय, जरत्कारु, कहोल, काश्यप, विभाण्डक, ऋष्यशृंग, उन्मुख, विमुख, कालकवृक्षीय मुनि, आश्राव्य, हिरण्मय, संवर्त, देवहव्य, पराक्रमी विष्वक्सेन, कण्व, कात्यायन, गार्ग्य, कौशिक, दिव्य जल, ओषधियाँ, श्रद्धा, मेधा, सरस्वती, अर्थ, धर्म, काम, विद्युत, जलधर मेघ, वायु, गर्जना करनेवाले बादल, प्राची दिशा, यज्ञके हविष्यको वहन करनेवाले सत्ताईस पावक,- सम्मिलित अग्नि और सोम, संयुक्त इन्द्र और अग्नि, मित्र, सविता, अर्यमा, भग, विश्वेदेव, साध्य, बृहस्पति, शुक्र, विश्वावसु, चित्रसेन, सुमन, तरुण, विविध यज्ञ, दक्षिणा, ग्रह, तारा और यज्ञनिर्वाहक मन्त्र--ये सभी वहाँ इन्द्रसभामें बैठते हैं
artho dharmaś ca kāmaś ca vidyutś caiva pāṇḍava | jalavāhas tathā meghā vāyavaḥ stanayitnavaḥ ||
Nārada said: “O Pāṇḍava, there too are present Artha (prosperity), Dharma (righteous order), and Kāma (legitimate desire), as well as lightning; the rain-bearing clouds, the winds, and the thunderous storm-clouds. Thus, in Indra’s assembly are seated not only kings and great seers of austere vows, but also the very powers and principles that sustain the world—ritual, seasons, directions, celestial fires, and the deities who uphold cosmic order.”
नारद उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames Indra’s court as a model of cosmic governance: not only persons (devas, seers, kings) but also world-sustaining principles—Dharma, Artha, Kāma, and natural forces like wind, cloud, and lightning—are envisioned as ‘present’ there. Ethically, it suggests that rightful sovereignty harmonizes prosperity and desire under the primacy of dharma, aligned with the rhythms and powers of nature and ritual order.
Nārada is describing the grandeur and composition of Indra’s assembly hall. He enumerates who and what is seated there—divine beings, sages, ritual elements, and even personified principles and natural phenomena—emphasizing the all-encompassing, cosmic character of Indra’s sabhā.