Shloka 44

समन्तपञ्चक-आख्यानम् तथा अक्षौहिणी-प्रमाणनिर्णयः

Samantapañcaka Narrative and the Measure of an Akṣauhiṇī

Devanagari script

ततः स्वयंवरो देव्या: पाज्चाल्या: पर्व चोच्यते । क्षात्रधर्मेण निर्जित्य ततो वैवाहिकं स्मृतम्‌,उसके बाद पांचालराजकुमारी देवी द्रौपदीके स्वयंवरपर्वका तथा क्षत्रियधर्मसे सब राजाओंपर विजय-प्राप्तिपूर्वक वैवाहिकपर्वका वर्णन है

Transliteration

tataḥ svayaṃvaro devyāḥ pāñcālyāḥ parva cocyate | kṣātradharmeṇa nirjitya tato vaivāhikaṃ smṛtam ||

Translation

其后叙述般遮罗女王般遮罗丽（德劳帕蒂）之自择夫婿礼（svayaṃvara）。又依刹帝利之法（kṣatriya-dharma）战胜诸王之后，叙事转入婚礼仪轨与成婚之篇。

Word by Word

ततःthen, thereafter

स्वयंवरःthe svayaṃvara (self-choice marriage ceremony)

देव्याःof the देवी (lady/goddess-like princess)

पाञ्चाल्याःof the Pāñcālī (Draupadī)

पर्वthe section/episode (parvan)

चand

उच्यतेis said/related

क्षात्रधर्मेणby/through kṣatriya-duty (warrior code)

निर्जित्यhaving conquered

ततःthen, thereafter

वैवाहिकम्the matrimonial (episode/section)

स्मृतम्is remembered/known (as)

Speaker

राम उवाच

Characters & Entities

Pāñcālī (Draupadī)

Pañcāla

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 links power, competition, and alliance to dharma: conquest must be pursued through the accepted kṣatriya code, and the resulting union must be regularized through proper marriage rites. It presents ethical legitimacy—right means and right social form—as essential to royal action.

What is happening in the narrative?

The text signals a transition in the epic’s outline: it announces the forthcoming narration of Draupadī (Pāñcālī)’s svayaṃvara episode, followed by the defeat of rival kings according to warrior custom, and then the subsequent wedding/marriage episode (vaivāhika).