Dhritarashtra Asks About the Earth

Verse 1 (6.4.1)

एवमुक्त्वा ययौ व्यासो धृतराष्ट्राय धीमते । धृतराष्ट्रोऽपि तच्छ्रुत्वा ध्यानमेवान्वपद्यत ॥

evamuktvā yayau vyāso dhṛtarāṣṭrāya dhīmate | dhṛtarāṣṭro'pi tacchrutvā dhyānamevānvapadyata

Having said this to the wise Dhritarashtra, Vyasa departed; and Dhritarashtra, having heard it, sank into thought.

Note on the text: Corrected धृतराष्ट्रय → धृतराष्ट्राय (misprint in Wikisource; dropped vowel sign of the dative, critical edition dhṛtarāṣṭrāya).

Verse 2 (6.4.2)

स मुहूर्तमिव ध्यात्वा विनिःश्वस्य मुहुर्मुहुः । संजयं संशितात्मानमपृच्छद्भरतर्षभ ॥

sa muhūrtamiva dhyātvā viniḥśvasya muhurmuhuḥ | saṃjayaṃ saṃśitātmānamapṛcchadbharatarṣabha

After brooding for a moment and sighing again and again, O bull of the Bharatas, he questioned Sanjaya, whose mind was disciplined.

Note on the text: Corrected अपृच्छद्रतर्षभ → अपृच्छद्भरतर्षभ (misprint in Wikisource; dropped भ, critical edition apṛcchad bharatarṣabha).

Verse 3 (6.4.3)

संजयेमे महीपालाः शूरा युद्धाभिनन्दिनः । अन्योन्यमभिनिघ्नन्ति शस्त्रैरुच्चावचैरिह ॥

saṃjayeme mahīpālāḥ śūrā yuddhābhinandinaḥ | anyonyamabhinighnanti śastrairuccāvacairiha

Sanjaya, these lords of the earth, heroes who delight in war, strike one another down here with weapons of every kind.

Note on the text: Speaker: Dhritarashtra's question to Sanjaya; the page prints no heading here (these verses fall under its वैशंपायन उवाच heading).

Verse 4 (6.4.4)

पार्थिवाः पृथिवीहेतोः समभित्यज्य जीवितम् । न वा शाम्यन्ति निघ्नन्तो वर्धयन्ति यमक्षयम् ॥

pārthivāḥ pṛthivīhetoḥ samabhityajya jīvitam | na vā śāmyanti nighnanto vardhayanti yamakṣayam

For the sake of the earth these kings give up their lives; they do not cease from killing, but go on swelling the realm of Yama.

Note on the text: Speaker: Dhritarashtra's question to Sanjaya; the page prints no heading here (these verses fall under its वैशंपायन उवाच heading).

Verse 5 (6.4.5)

भौममैश्वर्यमिच्छन्तो न मृष्यन्ते परस्परम् । मन्ये बहुगुणा भूमिस्तन्ममाचक्ष्व संजय ॥

bhaumamaiśvaryamicchanto na mṛṣyante parasparam | manye bahuguṇā bhūmistanmamācakṣva saṃjaya

Craving lordship over the earth, they cannot bear one another. I think the earth must have many virtues; tell me of them, Sanjaya.

Note on the text: Speaker: Dhritarashtra's question to Sanjaya; the page prints no heading here (these verses fall under its वैशंपायन उवाच heading).

Verse 6 (6.4.6)

बहूनि च सहस्राणि प्रयुतान्यर्बुदानि च । कोट्यश्च लोकवीराणां समेताः कुरुजाङ्गले ॥

bahūni ca sahasrāṇi prayutānyarbudāni ca | koṭyaśca lokavīrāṇāṃ sametāḥ kurujāṅgale

Many thousands, millions, hundreds of millions and tens of millions of the world's heroes have gathered in Kurujangala.

Note on the text: Speaker: Dhritarashtra's question to Sanjaya; the page prints no heading here (these verses fall under its वैशंपायन उवाच heading).

Verse 7 (6.4.7)

देशानां च परीमाणं नगराणां च संजय । श्रोतुमिच्छामि तत्त्वेन यत एते समागताः ॥

deśānāṃ ca parīmāṇaṃ nagarāṇāṃ ca saṃjaya | śrotumicchāmi tattvena yata ete samāgatāḥ

I wish to hear truly, Sanjaya, the extent of the countries and cities from which they have come.

Note on the text: Speaker: Dhritarashtra's question to Sanjaya; the page prints no heading here (these verses fall under its वैशंपायन उवाच heading).

Verse 8 (6.4.8)

दिव्यबुद्धिप्रदीपेन युक्तस्त्वं ज्ञानचक्षुषा । प्रभावात्तस्य विप्रर्षेर्व्यासस्यामिततेजसः ॥

divyabuddhipradīpena yuktastvaṃ jñānacakṣuṣā | prabhāvāttasya viprarṣervyāsasyāmitatejasaḥ

For by the power of that brahmin seer Vyasa, whose splendour is boundless, you are endowed with the eye of knowledge, lit by the lamp of divine understanding.

Note on the text: Speaker: Dhritarashtra's question to Sanjaya; the page prints no heading here (these verses fall under its वैशंपायन उवाच heading).

Verse 9 (6.4.9)

यथाप्रज्ञं महाप्राज्ञ भौमान्वक्ष्यामि ते गुणान् । शास्त्रचक्षुरवेक्षस्व नमस्ते भरतर्षभ ॥

yathāprajñaṃ mahāprājña bhaumānvakṣyāmi te guṇān | śāstracakṣuravekṣasva namaste bharatarṣabha

Wise king, I will tell you the virtues of the earth as far as my understanding reaches. Look on with the eye of the scriptures. I bow to you, bull of the Bharatas.

Verse 10 (6.4.10)

द्विविधानीह भूतानि चराणि स्थावराणि च । त्रसानां त्रिविधा योनिरण्डस्वेदजरायुजाः ॥

dvividhānīha bhūtāni carāṇi sthāvarāṇi ca | trasānāṃ trividhā yoniraṇḍasvedajarāyujāḥ

Beings in this world are of two kinds, moving and unmoving. Moving beings have a threefold origin: born from eggs, born from sweat, and born from the womb.

Verse 11 (6.4.11)

त्रसानां खलु सर्वेषां श्रेष्ठा राजञ्जरायुजाः । जरायुजानां प्रवरा मानवाः पशवश्च ये ॥

trasānāṃ khalu sarveṣāṃ śreṣṭhā rājañjarāyujāḥ | jarāyujānāṃ pravarā mānavāḥ paśavaśca ye

Of all moving beings, O king, the womb-born are the best; and of the womb-born the foremost are men and animals.

Verse 12 (6.4.12)

नानारूपधरा राजंस्तेषां भेदाश्चतुर्दश । वेदोक्ताः पृथिवीपाल येषु यज्ञाः प्रतिष्ठिताः ॥

nānārūpadharā rājaṃsteṣāṃ bhedāścaturdaśa | vedoktāḥ pṛthivīpāla yeṣu yajñāḥ pratiṣṭhitāḥ

They take many forms, O king, and their kinds are fourteen; they are named in the Vedas, protector of the earth, and on them the sacrifices rest.

Note on the text: Line 1 is a variant of the critical edition's 6.5.12ab (नानारूपधरा राजन् for nānārūpāṇi bibhrāṇāḥ); line 2 is 6.5.15cd. The page gives the list of the fourteen animals (the critical edition's 6.5.12cd–15ab) later, as verses 17–19.

Verse 13 (6.4.13)

ग्राम्याणां पुरुषाः श्रेष्ठाः सिंहाश्चारण्यवासिनाम् । सर्वेषामेव भूतानामन्योन्येनोपजीवनम् ॥

grāmyāṇāṃ puruṣāḥ śreṣṭhāḥ siṃhāścāraṇyavāsinām | sarveṣāmeva bhūtānāmanyonyenopajīvanam

Among the domestic creatures man is the best, and among those that live in the forest, the lion. All beings live by one another.

Verse 14 (6.4.14)

उद्भिज्जाः स्थावराः प्रोक्तास्तेषां पञ्चैव जातयः । वृक्षगुल्मलतावल्ल्यस्त्वक्सारास्तृणजातयः ॥

udbhijjāḥ sthāvarāḥ proktāsteṣāṃ pañcaiva jātayaḥ | vṛkṣagulmalatāvallyastvaksārāstṛṇajātayaḥ

Plants that burst forth from the soil are called the unmoving, and they are of just five kinds: trees, shrubs, creepers, climbing vines, and the grass kinds whose strength is in the bark.

Note on the text: Corrected उद्भिञ्जाः → उद्भिज्जाः (misprint in Wikisource; broken conjunct, critical edition udbhijjāḥ).

Verse 15 (6.4.15)

तेषां विंशतिरेकोना महाभूतेषु पञ्चसु । चतुर्विंशतिरुद्दिष्टा गायत्री लोकसंमता ॥

teṣāṃ viṃśatirekonā mahābhūteṣu pañcasu | caturviṃśatiruddiṣṭā gāyatrī lokasaṃmatā

Of these there are nineteen kinds; with the five great elements they make twenty-four, and these are declared to be the Gayatri, honoured by the world.

Note on the text: Corrected चतुर्विशति → चतुर्विंशति (misprint in Wikisource; dropped anusvara, critical edition caturviṃśati).

Verse 16 (6.4.16)

य एतां वेद गायत्रीं पुण्यां सर्वगुणान्विताम् । तत्त्वेन भरतश्रेष्ठ स लोके न प्रणश्यति ॥

ya etāṃ veda gāyatrīṃ puṇyāṃ sarvaguṇānvitām | tattvena bharataśreṣṭha sa loke na praṇaśyati

Whoever truly knows this holy Gayatri, endowed with every virtue, O best of the Bharatas, does not perish in the world.

Verse 17 (6.4.17)

अरण्यवासिनः सप्त सप्तैषां ग्रामवासिनः । सिंहा व्याघ्रा वराहाश्च महिषा वारणास्तथा ॥

araṇyavāsinaḥ sapta saptaiṣāṃ grāmavāsinaḥ | siṃhā vyāghrā varāhāśca mahiṣā vāraṇāstathā

Of these, seven dwell in the forest and seven in villages. The lion, the tiger, the boar, the buffalo and the elephant,

Note on the text: Line 1 is the critical edition's 6.5.12cd; line 2 is 6.5.13ab (सिंहा व्याघ्रा वराहाश्च for siṃhavyāghravarāhāś ca). The page places this list after the Gayatri verses (see verse 12).

Verse 18 (6.4.18)

ऋक्षाश्च वानराश्चैव सप्तारण्याः स्मृता नृप । गौरजाविमनुष्याश्च अश्वाश्वतरगर्दभाः ॥

ṛkṣāśca vānarāścaiva saptāraṇyāḥ smṛtā nṛpa | gaurajāvimanuṣyāśca aśvāśvataragardabhāḥ

the bear and the monkey: these are remembered as the seven of the forest, O king. The cow, the goat, the sheep, man, the horse, the mule and the donkey —

Note on the text: Line 1 is the critical edition's 6.5.13cd; line 2 is a variant of 6.5.14ab (गौरजाविमनुष्याश्च अश्वाश्वतरगर्दभाः for gaur ajo manujo meṣo vājyaśvataragardabhāḥ).

Verse 19 (6.4.19)

एते ग्राम्याः समाख्याताः पशवः सप्त साधुभिः । एते वै पशवो राजन्ग्राम्यारण्याश्चतुर्दश ॥

ete grāmyāḥ samākhyātāḥ paśavaḥ sapta sādhubhiḥ | ete vai paśavo rājangrāmyāraṇyāścaturdaśa

these seven are named by the wise as the domestic animals. These, O king, are the fourteen animals, domestic and wild.

Note on the text: Line 1 is the critical edition's 6.5.14cd; line 2 is 6.5.15ab.

Verse 20 (6.4.20)

भूमौ च जायते सर्वं भूमौ सर्वं विनश्यति । भूमिः प्रतिष्ठा भूतानां भूमिरेव सनातनम् ॥

bhūmau ca jāyate sarvaṃ bhūmau sarvaṃ vinaśyati | bhūmiḥ pratiṣṭhā bhūtānāṃ bhūmireva sanātanam

Everything is born on the earth, and everything perishes on the earth. The earth is the foundation of all beings; the earth alone is everlasting.

Verse 21 (6.4.21)

यस्य भूमिस्तस्य सर्वं जगत्स्थावरजङ्गमम् । तत्रातिगृद्धा राजानो विनिघ्नन्तीतरेतरम् ॥

yasya bhūmistasya sarvaṃ jagatsthāvarajaṅgamam | tatrātigṛddhā rājāno vinighnantītaretaram

Whoever owns the earth owns the whole world, moving and unmoving. That is why kings, greedy for it, slay one another.