Shloka 106

Devanagari script

एताश्षान्याश्व नद्यो5हं पृथिव्यां या नरोत्तम । परिक्रामन्‌ प्रपश्यामि तस्य कुक्षौ महात्मन:,नरश्रेष्ठ फिर तो मैं उस महात्मा बालकके उदरमें घूमने लगा। घूमते हुए मैंने वहाँ गंगा, सतलज, सीता, यमुना, कोसी, चम्बल, वेत्रवती, चिनाव, सरस्वती, सिन्धु, व्यास, गोदावरी, वस्वोकसारा, नलिनी, नर्मदा, ताम्रपर्णी, वेणा, शुभदायिनी पुण्यतोया, सुवेणा, कृष्णवेणा, महानदी इरामा, वितस्ता (झेलम), महानदी कावेरी, शोणभद्र, विशल्या तथा किम्पुना--इन सबको तथा इस पृथ्वीपर जो अन्य नदियाँ हैं, उनको भी देखा

Transliteration

etāś cānyāś ca nadyo 'haṃ pṛthivyāṃ yā narottama | parikrāman prapaśyāmi tasya kukṣau mahātmanaḥ ||

Translation

毗舍婆耶那说道：“人中最胜者啊，我行走周旋之时，在那大魂者的腹中见到了这一切河流——也见到了大地上流淌的其他诸河。”

Word by Word

एताःthese

अन्याःother

चand

नद्यःrivers

अहम्I

पृथिव्याम्on the earth

याःwhich

नर-उत्तमO best of men

परिक्रामन्moving around, roaming

प्रपश्यामिI see clearly

तस्यof him/that

कुक्षौin the belly/womb

महात्मनःof the great-souled one

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśaṃpāyana

narottama (addressee)

pṛthivī (earth)

kukṣi (belly/womb) of the mahātmā

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse evokes a cosmic perspective: the entire sacred landscape (symbolized by the rivers of the earth) can be contained within a higher, mysterious reality. It underscores humility before the vastness of dharma and the world-order, where the familiar geography becomes part of a larger, awe-inspiring vision.

What is happening in the narrative?

The narrator describes moving about and seeing, within the belly of a great being, the rivers of the earth (and by implication the whole world). It is a marvel-episode in which ordinary spatial boundaries are overturned, presenting an interior ‘world’ that contains the external world.