Shloka 18
Jarītā-Śārṅgaka-saṃvādaḥ — The Dialogue of Jaritā and the Śārṅgaka Chicks
Fire-escape deliberation
विहारदेशं सम्प्राप्य नानाद्रुममनुत्तमम् । गृहैरुच्चावचैर्युक्तं पुरन्दरपुरोपमम्
vihāradeśaṃ samprāpya nānādrumamanuttamam | gṛhair uccāvacair yuktaṃ purandara-puropamam ||
विहारदेशं सम्प्राप्य नानाद्रुममनुत्तमम् । गृहैरुच्चावचैर्युक्तं पुरन्दरपुरोपमम् ॥
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how prosperity and pleasure can appear radiant and orderly—like Indra’s city—yet remain a passing scene within the epic’s larger moral landscape. It implicitly contrasts moments of enjoyment with the enduring demands of dharma that will later reassert themselves.
The narrator describes the party arriving at a superb recreational grove filled with many trees and diverse buildings, so splendid that it resembles Indra’s celestial city.