Shloka 57

Āścarya-kathana: Brāhmaṇa–Nāga Dialogue on Sūrya (Vivasvat) and the ‘Second Sun’ Phenomenon

Devanagari script

एकव्यूहविभागो वा क्वचिद्‌ द्विव्यूहसंज्ञित: । त्रिव्यूहश्चापि संख्यातश्षतुर्व्यूहश्च दृश्यते

Transliteration

ekavyūhavibhāgo vā kvacid dvivyūhasaṃjñitaḥ | trivyūhaścāpi saṃkhyātaś caturvyūhaś ca dṛśyate ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana berkata: “Dalam sesetengah konteks, susunan itu disebut sebagai satu vyūha; di tempat lain ia dinamakan sebagai dua vyūha. Ia juga dihitung sebagai tiga vyūha, dan di tempat-tempat tertentu terlihat pula empat vyūha.”

Word by Word

एकव्यूहविभागःa division (called) single-formation

वाor

क्वचित्somewhere / in some cases

द्विव्यूहसंज्ञितःdesignated as (the) two-formation

त्रिव्यूहःthe three-formation (arrangement)

चand

अपिalso

संख्यातःis reckoned / is counted

चतुर्व्यूहःthe four-formation (arrangement)

चand

दृश्यतेis seen / is found

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights that the same tactical or doctrinal material can be organized under different numerical classifications (onefold, twofold, threefold, fourfold). It trains the listener to recognize that variations in enumeration are often differences of arrangement and naming, not necessarily contradictions.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana continues an explanatory discourse, noting that descriptions of vyūhas (battle formations/arrays) appear in multiple schemes—sometimes as one, sometimes as two, three, or four—depending on the context and method of classification being used.