Shloka 3

नलस्य बाहुकत्वेन ऋतुपर्णनगरप्रवेशः

Nala as Bāhuka enters Ṛtuparṇa’s city

Devanagari script

शालवेणुधवाश्वत्थतिन्दुकेड्गुदकिंशुकै: । अर्जुनारिष्टसंछन्नं स्यन्दनैश्व सशाल्मलै:

Transliteration

śālavenu-dhava-aśvattha-tindukeḍguda-kiṃśukaiḥ | arjunāriṣṭa-saṃchannaṃ syandanaiś ca saśālmalaiḥ ||

Translation

พรหทัศวะกล่าวว่า “ดินแดนนั้นถูกปกคลุมด้วยไม้ศาละ ไผ่ ธวะ อัศวัตถะ ตินทุกะ อิงคุทะ และกิมศุกะ อีกทั้งไม้ศาลมะลีด้วย จนหนทางรถศึกถูกซ่อนเร้น แลยากจะแลเห็นให้แน่ชัด”

Word by Word

शालवेणुधवाश्वत्थतिन्दुकेड्गुदकिंशुकैःwith (trees) śāla, bamboo, dhava, aśvattha, tinduka, iṅguda, and kiṃśuka

अर्जुनारिष्टसंछन्नम्covered/overspread with arjuna and ariṣṭa (trees)

स्यन्दनैःwith chariots

चand

सशाल्मलैःtogether with śālmali (silk-cotton trees)

Speaker

बृहृदश्च उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bṛhadaśva

syandana (chariot)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse primarily offers vivid scene-setting rather than a direct moral injunction: it emphasizes how nature can obscure human paths and intentions, reminding the listener that in exile and hardship one must rely on discernment and steadiness when the way forward is not clearly visible.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bṛhadaśva describes a region where dense growth of many kinds of trees has covered and concealed the chariot-way, indicating difficult terrain and an overgrown, hard-to-trace route within the forest setting of the Vana Parva.