Shloka 35

Yuga-Lakṣaṇa and Varṣa-Pramāṇa Inquiry (युगलक्षण–वर्षप्रमाण–प्रश्न)

Devanagari script

शकक्‍्यन्ते परिसंख्यातुं पुण्यास्ता हि सरिद्वरा: । तव पुण्या जनपदाश्षत्वारो लोकसम्मता:

Transliteration

śakyante parisaṅkhyātuṃ puṇyāstā hi saridvarāḥ | tava puṇyā janapadāś catvāro lokasammatāḥ ||

Translation

அந்தச் சிறந்த, பரமப் புண்ணியமிக்க நதிகளை எண்ணிக் கணக்கிட இயலாது; அவற்றின் எண்ணிக்கையை நிர்ணயிப்பது அசாத்தியம். மேலும் அந்தத் தீவு-பிரதேசத்தில் உலகால் மதிக்கப்படும் நான்கு புனித நாடுகளும் உள்ளன.

Word by Word

• {'śakyante': 'are possible (to be done)

• can be', 'parisaṅkhyātum': 'to count completely

• to enumerate', 'puṇyāḥ': 'holy, meritorious, sacred', 'tāḥ': 'those', 'hi': 'indeed, certainly', 'sarid-varāḥ': 'the best of rivers

• excellent rivers', 'tava': 'your (addressed to Dhṛtarāṣṭra)', 'janapadāḥ': 'countries, provinces, territories', 'catvāraḥ': 'four', 'loka-sammatāḥ': 'approved by the world

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Dhṛtarāṣṭra (implied by 'tava')
• sarid (rivers)
• janapada (provinces/territories)
• dvīpa (island/continent; implied by context)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse emphasizes the immeasurable abundance of sacred sources of merit—especially rivers and holy regions—suggesting that dharmic value is not confined to a single place but is vast, revered, and beyond easy enumeration.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya continues a descriptive account of a sacred island/region, telling Dhṛtarāṣṭra that the holy rivers there are too numerous to count and that the area contains four world-honored, sacred provinces.