Shloka 23

Draupadī’s Exhortation on Rājadharma and Daṇḍa (द्रौपद्याः राजधर्मोपदेशः)

Devanagari script

क्रौज्चद्वीपेन सदृश: शाकद्वीपो नराधिप | पूर्वेण तु महामेरोर्दण्डेन मृदितास्त्वया,नरेन्द्र! क्रौज्चद्वीपके समान ही शाकद्वीपको जो महामेरुसे पूर्व है, आपने दण्ड देकर दबा दिया है

Transliteration

vaiśampāyana uvāca |

krāuñcadvīpena sadṛśaḥ śākadvīpo narādhipa |

pūrveṇa tu mahāmeror daṇḍena mṛditas tvayā naraindra ||

Translation

Вайшампаяна сказал: «О царь, Шакадвипа подобен Краунчадвипе. Но Шакадвипа, лежащий к востоку от великого Меру, был придавлен тобою твоим жезлом, о владыка людей».

Word by Word

क्रौञ्चद्वीपेनwith/by (comparison to) Kraunca-dvipa

सदृशःsimilar

शाकद्वीपःŚāka-dvīpa

नराधिपO king (lord of men)

पूर्वेणby/with the eastern (side/direction)

तुbut/indeed

महामेरोःof Mahāmeru

दण्डेनwith a staff/rod; by punishment

मृदिताःcrushed/pressed down (having been crushed)

त्वयाby you

नरेन्द्रO king (Indra among men)

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Narādhipa (the king addressed)

Krāuñcadvīpa

Śākadvīpa

Mahāmeru

Daṇḍa (staff/sceptre)

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 uses cosmological imagery to underscore the reach of royal power (daṇḍa) and the idea that a ruler’s authority can ‘subdue’ even vast domains; ethically, it hints that such power should be understood as a weighty instrument of governance, not mere force.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana describes Śākadvīpa as comparable to Krāuñcadvīpa and states that the king being addressed has ‘pressed down’ Śākadvīpa—situated east of Mahāmeru—by means of his staff, employing hyperbolic, mythic geography to magnify the king’s might.