Shloka 47

Varṣa-Parvata-Nivāsinām Varnanam

Description of Regions, Mountains, and Their Inhabitants

Devanagari script

बाह्विका वाटधानाश्व आभीरा: कालतोयका: । अपरान्ता: परान्ताश्न पज्चालाश्षर्ममण्डला:

Transliteration

bāhvīkā vāṭadhānāśvā ābhīrāḥ kālatoyakāḥ | aparāntāḥ parāntāś ca pañcālāḥ śarmamaṇḍalāḥ ||

Translation

सञ्जय उवाच—बाह्विका वाटधानाश्व आभीराः कालतोयकाः । अपरान्ताः परान्ताश्च पञ्चालाः शर्ममण्डलाः ॥

Word by Word

बाह्विकाःthe Bāhlikas (people of Bāhlika)

वाटधानाश्वाःthose having horses fed on vātadhāna (a kind of grain/pea)

आभीराःthe Ābhīras

कालतोयकाःthe Kālatoyakas (people associated with the Kālatoyā river/region)

अपरान्ताःthe Aparāntas (western border people)

परान्ताःthe Parāntas (frontier people)

पञ्चालाःthe Pañcālas

शर्ममण्डलाःthe Śarmamaṇḍalas (a named group/tribe; lit. 'circle/region of Śarma')

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Bāhvīkas

Vāṭadhāna (horse-region/people)

Ābhīras

Kālatoyā (river/region)

Aparānta

Parānta

Pañcāla

Śarmamaṇḍalas

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 part of an epic catalogue: it highlights the vast, multi-regional scale of the Kurukṣetra war. Ethically, such lists remind the listener that war’s consequences spread across many communities, not merely the principal royal houses, thereby intensifying the sense of collective moral weight and social disruption.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya is enumerating various peoples and contingents present in the war. This verse continues the roll-call of groups—tribes and regional forces—who have assembled, situating the conflict within a broad political and geographic landscape.