Shloka 58

समन्तपञ्चक-आख्यानम् तथा अक्षौहिणी-प्रमाणनिर्णयः

Samantapañcaka Narrative and the Measure of an Akṣauhiṇī

Devanagari script

कीचकानां वध: पर्व पर्व गोग्रहणं तत: । अभिमन्योश्र वैराट्या: पर्व वैवाहिकं स्मृतम्‌,इसके बाद कीचकवधपर्व, गोग्रहण (गोहरण)-पर्व तथा अभिमन्यु और उत्तराके विवाहका पर्व है

Transliteration

kīcakānāṁ vadhaḥ parva parva gograhaṇaṁ tataḥ | abhimanyor vai rāṭyāḥ parva vaivāhikaṁ smṛtam ||

Translation

Далее повествуется парва о убиении Кичака (Kīcaka), затем парва о захвате скота; а после этого вспоминается свадебная парва об Абхиманью (Abhimanyu) и царевне Вираты (Virāṭa). Эта последовательность показывает, как Пандавы (Pāṇḍava), даже скрываясь, хранят честь и защищают беззащитных, и как после пресечения притеснений восстанавливаются законные союзы и общественный порядок.

Word by Word

कीचकानाम्of the Kīcakas

वधःslaying

पर्वsection/episode (parvan)

गोग्रहणम्seizure of cows

ततःthen/thereafter

अभिमन्योःof Abhimanyu

चand

वैराट्याःof the Virāṭa-princess (Uttarā)

पर्वsection/episode (parvan)

वैवाहिकम्pertaining to marriage

स्मृतम्is remembered/called

Speaker

राम उवाच

Characters & Entities

Kīcaka

Abhimanyu

Uttarā (Virāṭa’s daughter)

Cows/Cattle (go)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse functions as a structural marker, but its implied ethical arc is clear: oppression (Kīcaka’s wrongdoing) is checked, communal wealth and livelihood (cattle) are defended against unjust seizure, and social harmony is reaffirmed through a rightful marriage alliance (Abhimanyu–Uttarā).

What is happening in the narrative?

It enumerates successive parvas: first the episode of Kīcaka’s slaying, then the cattle-seizure episode, and then the wedding episode of Abhimanyu with Virāṭa’s daughter Uttarā—signposting key events that lead from crisis and conflict toward restoration and alliance.