Shloka 3

Adhyāya 6: Pañca-mahābhūta–guṇa-nirdeśa and Sudarśana-dvīpa

Five Elements, Sensory Qualities, and a Cosmographic Island

Devanagari script

संजय उवाच प्रागायता महाराज षडेते वर्षपर्वता: । अवगाढा हाुभयत: समुद्रौ पूर्वपश्चिमौ

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca | prāgāyatā mahārāja ṣaḍ ete varṣaparvatāḥ | avagāḍhā ubhayataḥ samudrau pūrvapaścimau ||

Translation

Sinabi ni Sañjaya: “O dakilang hari, ang anim na kabundukang Varṣa na ito ay nakaunat mula sa silangan patungong kanluran. Sa magkabilang panig, lumulusong ang mga ito sa mga karagatan—ang karagatang silangan at ang karagatang kanluran.”

Word by Word

• संजयः: Sanjaya
• संजयः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: संजय
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• उवाच: said/spoke
• Type: Verb
• Root: वच्
• Form: Perfect, Third, Singular, Parasmaipada

• प्रागायताः: stretched eastward (from east to west)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: प्रागायत
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• महाराज: O great king
• Type: Noun
• Root: महाराज
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• षट्: six
• Type: Adjective
• Root: षष्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• एते: these
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: एतद्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• वर्षपर्वताः: mountains named Varṣaparvata / rain-mountains
• वर्षपर्वताः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: वर्षपर्वत
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• अवगाढाः: plunged/entered deep
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अवगाढ
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural, Past passive participle (क्त)

• उभयतः: on both sides
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: उभयतः

• समुद्रौ: in the two oceans
• समुद्रौ: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: समुद्र
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Dual

• पूर्वपश्चिमौ: the eastern and the western
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पूर्वपश्चिम
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Dual

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Mahārāja (Dhṛtarāṣṭra)
• Varṣa-parvatas (six mountains)
• Pūrva-samudra (Eastern Ocean)
• Paścima-samudra (Western Ocean)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse emphasizes cosmic order and natural boundaries: the world is portrayed as structured by enduring geographical limits (mountains and oceans). In the Mahābhārata’s ethical atmosphere, such order implicitly contrasts with human disorder in war, reminding the listener that dharma and restraint are grounded in a larger, stable framework.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya is describing the layout of the world/lands to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra, mentioning six Varṣa-mountains that run east–west and sink into the eastern and western oceans on both sides, functioning as boundary-markers in the cosmographical description.