Shloka 34
Śākadvīpa–Pramāṇa–Varṇana
Measurements and Description of Śākadvīpa
कुरुनन्दन! भरतश्रेष्ठ)! वहाँ लोकविख्यात वामन, ऐरावत, सुप्रतीक और अंजन--ये चार दिग्गज रहते हैं ।। सुप्रतीकस्तथा राजन् प्रभिन्नकरटामुख: । तस्याहं परिमाणं तु न संख्यातुमिहोत्सहे
kurunandana bharataśreṣṭha tatra lokavikhyātā vāmana airāvata supratīka añjana iti catvāro diggajāḥ tiṣṭhanti || supratīkastathā rājan prabhinnakaraṭāmukhaḥ | tasyāhaṃ parimāṇaṃ tu na saṅkhyātum ihotsahe ||
Санджая сказал: «О радость Куру, о лучший из Бхарат! В той стороне обитают четыре всемирно прославленных слона-стража сторон света — Вамана, Айравата, Супратика и Анджана. А Супратика, о царь, с лицом, у которого виски струятся в ярости гона; я не дерзаю здесь исчислять меру его необъятности.»
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the epic’s cosmological imagination: certain beings are portrayed as vast, world-renowned guardians of the directions. Sanjaya’s admission that he cannot ‘compute’ Supratīka’s measure highlights human limitation before the immensity of cosmic order, a reminder that power and scale in the Mahābhārata extend beyond the battlefield.
Sanjaya continues his description to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra, listing the four famed diggajas—Vāmana, Airāvata, Supratīka, and Añjana—associated with a particular quarter. He singles out Supratīka as being in musth (rut flowing from the temples) and says he does not dare to state or calculate his enormous size.