Shloka 10
मेरोर्दिग्वर्णनम् / Digvarṇana of Meru: Uttara-Kuru, Bhadrāśva, and Jambūdvīpa Motifs
तत्र स्वयंप्रभा देवी नित्यं वसति शाण्डिली । उत्तरेण तु शृड्गस्य समुद्रान्ते जनाधिप
tatra svayaṃprabhā devī nityaṃ vasati śāṇḍilī | uttareṇa tu śṛṅgasya samudrānte janādhipa |
Sañjaya disse: “Ali, a deusa Śāṇḍilī, conhecida como Svayaṃprabhā (‘Auto-luminosa’), habita perpetuamente. E ao norte daquele pico, ó senhor dos homens, à beira do oceano, encontra-se uma região (varṣa) célebre neste relato.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse emphasizes a worldview where certain regions are sanctified by continuous divine presence; sacred geography is presented as a source of order, auspiciousness, and reverence within the epic’s cosmological imagination.
Sañjaya is describing a particular locale: a goddess named Śāṇḍilī, called Svayaṃprabhā, dwells there eternally, and he locates the place further by noting it lies north of a peak and near the ocean’s shore, as part of a broader geographical/cosmological description.