Shloka 20

Devanagari script

परस्तु द्विगुणस्तेषां विष्कम्भो वंशवर्धन । देशांस्तत्र प्रवक्ष्यामि तन्मे निगदत: शृणु,कुरुवंशकी वृद्धि करनेवाले महाराज! इन पर्वतोंके बीचका विस्तार उत्तरोत्तर दूना होता गया है। उनमें जो देश बसे हुए हैं, उनका परिचय देता हूँ; सुनिये

Transliteration

paras tu dviguṇas teṣāṁ viṣkambho vaṁśavardhana | deśāṁs tatra pravakṣyāmi tan me nigadataḥ śṛṇu ||

Translation

Sañjaya nói: “Ôi bậc làm hưng thịnh dòng Kuru, bề ngang giữa các dãy núi ấy lần lượt tăng lên gấp đôi. Nay ta sẽ thuật rõ những miền đất nằm ở đó; hãy lắng nghe khi ta kể lại.”

Word by Word

परःthe latter/next

तुbut/indeed

द्विगुणःtwofold/double

तेषाम्of them

विष्कम्भःbreadth/extent (span)

वंशवर्धनO increaser of the lineage (dynasty)

देशान्countries/regions

तत्रthere/in that place

प्रवक्ष्यामिI shall describe/tell

तत्that (this matter)

मेmy/of me

निगदतःof (me) speaking/reciting

शृणुhear/listen

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Vaṁśavardhana (epithet of Dhṛtarāṣṭra)

Deśāḥ (regions/countries)

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 models disciplined transmission of knowledge: the narrator signals method (measured description) and invites attentive listening, framing geography and polity as part of responsible kingship and informed judgment in the war narrative.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya addresses Dhṛtarāṣṭra (as ‘Vaṁśavardhana’) and transitions into a systematic description of the lands situated between previously mentioned mountain ranges, noting that the intervening breadth increases twofold successively.