Mahabharata 7.62.18 — Drona Parva, Adhyaya 62, Shloka 18

Adhyāya 62: Sañjaya’s Admonition to Dhṛtarāṣṭra on Rāja-dharma and Consequence

Devanagari script

समुद्रान्तां वसुमतीं वसुपूर्णा तु सर्वतः । सतां ब्राह्मणसात्कृत्वा जगामास्तं तदा नृप:

Transliteration

samudrāntāṃ vasumatīṃ vasupūrṇā tu sarvataḥ | satāṃ brāhmaṇasātkṛtvā jagāmāstaṃ tadā nṛpaḥ ||

Translation

نارد نے کہا—سمندر تک پھیلی، ہر طرف دولت سے بھرپور زمین کو نیک برہمنوں کے سپرد کر کے بادشاہ ماندھاتا تب سورج کی مانند غروب ہو گیا۔

Word by Word

• समुद्रान्ताम्: bounded by the ocean
• समुद्रान्ताम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: समुद्रान्त (समुद्र + अन्त)
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• वसुमतीम्: the earth
• वसुमतीम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: वसुमती
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• वसुपूर्णाम्: filled with wealth
• वसुपूर्णाम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: वसुपूर्ण (वसु + पूर्ण)
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• तु: indeed/but
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु

• सर्वतः: on all sides/everywhere
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: सर्वतः

• सताम्: of the good/virtuous
• Type: Noun
• Root: सत्
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Plural

• ब्राह्मणसात्कृत्वा: having made over to the Brahmins / having handed over to Brahmins
• Type: Verb
• Root: सात्कृ (सात् + कृ)
• Form: क्त्वा (absolutive/gerund), Parasmaipada (usage)

• जगाम: went
• Type: Verb
• Root: गम्
• Form: Perfect (लिट्), Third, Singular, Parasmaipada

• अस्तम्: setting (to disappearance); to the west
• अस्तम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: अस्त
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• तदा: then/at that time
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तदा

• नृपः: the king
• नृपः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: नृप
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

नारद उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Nārada
• King Māndhātṛ
• Earth (Vasumatī)
• Ocean (Samudra)
• Brāhmaṇas (Brāhmaṇa)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse presents an ideal of righteous kingship: even when a ruler possesses an ocean-bounded, prosperous realm, he should subordinate power and wealth to dharma—symbolized by entrusting it to the virtuous brāhmaṇas—and accept life’s impermanence, departing without clinging.

What is happening in the narrative?

Nārada recounts that King Māndhātṛ, after ruling a wealthy earth, placed the realm under the authority/guardianship of righteous brāhmaṇas and then departed from the world, compared to the sun setting.