Shloka 9
Varuṇābhiṣeka–Agni-anveṣaṇa–Kaubera-tīrtha
Varuṇa’s Consecration; Search for Agni; Kaubera Sacred Site
पद्मावती सुनक्षत्रा कन्दरा बहुयोजना । संतानिका च कौरव्य कमला च महाबला
padmāvatī sunakṣatrā kandarā bahuyojanā | saṃtānikā ca kauravya kamalā ca mahābalā ||
ਵੈਸ਼ੰਪਾਯਨ ਨੇ ਆਖਿਆ— “ਹੇ ਕੌਰਵ ਵੰਸ਼ਜ, ਪਦਮਾਵਤੀ, ਸੁਨਕਸ਼ਤਰਾ, ਕੰਦਰਾਂ—ਜੋ ਬਹੁਤ ਯੋਜਨਾਂ ਤੱਕ ਫੈਲੀ ਹੋਈ—ਸੰਤਾਨਿਕਾ ਅਤੇ ਕਮਲਾ; ਇਹ ਸਭ ਮਹਾਬਲ (ਅਤਿ ਵਿਸ਼ਾਲ ਤੇ ਦੁਰਜੇਯ) ਸਨ।”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse primarily functions as epic cataloguing: it underscores the vastness and formidable nature of the terrain (or regions/caverns) being described. Ethically, such descriptions in the Mahābhārata often frame how environment and circumstance can intensify human conflict and test endurance, discipline, and resolve.
Vaiśampāyana continues a descriptive enumeration addressed to Janamejaya (called ‘Kauravya’), listing named places/regions (often understood as caves, ravines, or stretches of terrain) and characterizing them as extensive (‘many yojanas’) and formidable (‘mahābalā’).