वैशंपायन उवाच
तथैव सहदेवो ऽपि धर्मराजेन पूजितः ॥
महत्या सेनया सार्धं प्रययौ दक्षिणां दिशम् ॥
स शूरसेनान् कार्त्स्न्येन पूर्वम् एवाजयत् प्रभुः ॥
मत्स्यराजं च कौरव्यो वशे चक्रे बलाद् बली ॥
अधिराजाधिपं चैव दन्तवक्रं महाहवे ॥
जिगाय करदं चैव स्वराज्ये संन्यवेशयत् ॥
vaiśaṃpāyana uvāca
tathaiva sahadevo 'pi dharmarājena pūjitaḥ ||
mahatyā senayā sārdhaṃ prayayau dakṣiṇāṃ diśam ||
sa śūrasenān kārtsnyena pūrvam evājayat prabhuḥ ||
matsyarājaṃ ca kauravyo vaśe cakre balād balī ||
adhirājādhipaṃ caiva dantavakraṃ mahāhave ||
jigāya karadaṃ caiva svarājye saṃnyaveśayat ||
Likewise Sahadeva, honored by Dharmaraja, set out toward the southern direction with a great army. First he conquered the Shurasenas entirely, and mighty Kauravya subdued the king of the Matsyas by force. And he defeated the lord of Adhiraja, Dantavakra, in a great battle, and having made him a tributary, established him in his own kingdom.
87f00135a4b9 · published Jul 16, 2026, 3:28:51 PM UTC
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Having defeated Dantavakra, Sahadeva does not seize his kingdom but ‘establishes the conquered one in his own kingdom.’ It is significant that the goal of the campaign is tribute, not deposition: the king remains king, merely acknowledging a higher authority. Here is revealed an order in which power over the earth does not mean its seizure: the defeated one rules as before, but now as part of a single whole. The verse teaches that righteous dominion does not ruin households or drive kings from their thrones, but binds many kingdoms into harmony under a common law, leaving each its own.