Shloka 57
Āścarya-kathana: Brāhmaṇa–Nāga Dialogue on Sūrya (Vivasvat) and the ‘Second Sun’ Phenomenon
एकव्यूहविभागो वा क्वचिद् द्विव्यूहसंज्ञित: । त्रिव्यूहश्चापि संख्यातश्षतुर्व्यूहश्च दृश्यते
ekavyūhavibhāgo vā kvacid dvivyūhasaṃjñitaḥ | trivyūhaścāpi saṃkhyātaś caturvyūhaś ca dṛśyate ||
Sinabi ni Vaiśampāyana: “Sa ilang pagkakataon, ang kaayusan ay inilalarawan bilang iisang vyūha; sa iba naman, tinatawag itong dalawang vyūha. Binibilang din ito bilang tatlong vyūha, at sa ibang dako’y nakikita ang apat na vyūha.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights that the same tactical or doctrinal material can be organized under different numerical classifications (onefold, twofold, threefold, fourfold). It trains the listener to recognize that variations in enumeration are often differences of arrangement and naming, not necessarily contradictions.
Vaiśampāyana continues an explanatory discourse, noting that descriptions of vyūhas (battle formations/arrays) appear in multiple schemes—sometimes as one, sometimes as two, three, or four—depending on the context and method of classification being used.