Shloka 3

नलस्य बाहुकत्वेन ऋतुपर्णनगरप्रवेशः

Nala as Bāhuka enters Ṛtuparṇa’s city

Devanagari script

शालवेणुधवाश्वत्थतिन्दुकेड्गुदकिंशुकै: । अर्जुनारिष्टसंछन्नं स्यन्दनैश्व सशाल्मलै:

Transliteration

śālavenu-dhava-aśvattha-tindukeḍguda-kiṃśukaiḥ | arjunāriṣṭa-saṃchannaṃ syandanaiś ca saśālmalaiḥ ||

Translation

布里哈达湿婆说道：“那一带被娑罗树、竹、达婆树、阿湿婆他树、丁杜迦树、因古达树与金舒迦树所遮蔽；又有娑尔摩梨树相杂其间——以致车辙之路尽被掩没，难以辨认。”

Word by Word

शालवेणुधवाश्वत्थतिन्दुकेड्गुदकिंशुकैःwith (trees) śāla, bamboo, dhava, aśvattha, tinduka, iṅguda, and kiṃśuka

अर्जुनारिष्टसंछन्नम्covered/overspread with arjuna and ariṣṭa (trees)

स्यन्दनैःwith chariots

चand

सशाल्मलैःtogether with śālmali (silk-cotton trees)

Speaker

बृहृदश्च उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bṛhadaśva

syandana (chariot)

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 primarily offers vivid scene-setting rather than a direct moral injunction: it emphasizes how nature can obscure human paths and intentions, reminding the listener that in exile and hardship one must rely on discernment and steadiness when the way forward is not clearly visible.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bṛhadaśva describes a region where dense growth of many kinds of trees has covered and concealed the chariot-way, indicating difficult terrain and an overgrown, hard-to-trace route within the forest setting of the Vana Parva.