Shloka 16

Devanagari script

इस प्रकार श्रीमह्ाभारत सभापव॑के अन्तर्गत राजसूयारम्भपर्वमें जरासंधवधके लिये मन्त्रणाविषयक सोलहवाँ अध्याय पूरा हुआ,तस्याभिजनसंयुक्ति्गुणैर्भरतसत्तम । व्याप्तेयं पृथिवी सर्वा सूर्यस्येव गभस्तिभि: भरतश्रेष्ठ! जैसे सूर्यकी किरणोंसे यह सारी पृथ्वी आच्छादित हो जाती है, उसी प्रकार उनके उत्तम कुलोचित सदगुणोंसे समस्त भूमण्डल व्याप्त हो रहा था--सर्वत्र उनके गुणोंकी चर्चा एवं प्रशंसा होती रहती थी

Transliteration

tasya abhijana-saṁyukti-guṇair bharata-sattama | vyāpteyaṁ pṛthivī sarvā sūryasyeva gabhastibhiḥ ||

Translation

భరతశ్రేష్ఠా! సూర్యకిరణాలు సమస్త భూమిని వ్యాపించినట్లే, అతని మహత్తర వంశోచిత సద్గుణాలు ఈ సమస్త భూమండలాన్ని వ్యాపించాయి—ఎక్కడ చూసినా అతని గుణగానం, ప్రశంసలు వినబడేవి.

Word by Word

तस्यof him/that

अभिजनnoble lineage

संयुक्तिconnection/association

गुणैःby virtues/qualities

भरतसत्तमO best of the Bharatas

व्याप्ताpervaded/covered

इयम्this

पृथिवीearth

सर्वाentire/all

सूर्यस्यof the sun

इवlike/as

गभस्तिभिःby rays

Speaker

अर्जुन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bharata (dynastic epithet)

Sūrya (the Sun)

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 highlights an ethical ideal of kingship: true eminence is shown when noble qualities—grounded in cultivated character and worthy lineage—become widely recognized, spreading like sunlight. Social praise here functions as a marker that virtue has become publicly evident and beneficial.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the context of the Rājasūya preparations and the counsel surrounding the plan to deal with Jarāsandha, the text describes how a leading figure’s reputation and virtues had become universally known—so widely discussed and admired that they seemed to pervade the whole earth like the sun’s rays.