In the previous episode, we had witnessed the continuation of Sage Naarada’s conversation with Yudishtra, wherein the conversation enters into the second phase. In the first phase, we witnessed various aspects of “Raaja-Dharma” being narrated by Sage Naarada in the form of various questions that he is posing towards Yudishtra. Of course, Yudishtra knows all these as he himself is an epitome of “Dharma”, which Sage Naarada also knows. But still, if Sage Naarada has to talk about all this, it is for people like us who should understand these things. Normally our ancestors would convey important pieces of information only through such ways – Either through stories, or through conversations between two important people, or documenting their own conversation(s) with someone else. We’ve witnessed during our previous “Shri Vishnu Puraana” project, wherein Sage Paraashara is in conversation with his disciple, Sage Maithreya. The entire conversation is documented as “Shri Vishnu Puraana”, which also talks about various aspects of “Dharma” that the subsequent generations of people should know. Of course, Sage Maithreya was a great sage by himself, and he doesn’t really require such advice from Sage Paraashara. Yet, the conversation happened between the two, and the purpose here is that, the message should reach people of subsequent generations. This is exactly the same here as well. Sage Naarada and Yudishtra talk about all these aspects of “Dharma”, for all of us to know and understand.
Moving on further, Yudishtra asks Sage Naarada about his opinion on the palace of Indraprastha, for which, Sage Naarada explains that he has seen many such magnificent palaces in many other places. Upon hearing this from Sage Naarada, Yudishtra is surprised. He now wants to know which are the places Sage Naarada is referring to here. As Yudishtra asks thus, Sage Naarada pauses for a moment, quickly recollects all what we had witnessed in various “Sabhaas” (Courtrooms) all around the world and slowly starts. He now starts with an elaborate description of the “Indra Lokha”. He says thus, “Oh Yudishtra! Now I shall start with the Indra Lokha. Indra’s “Sabhaa Mantapa” is around 100 Yojanas in length and 150 Yojanas in breadth. (We’ve already witnessed the measurement calculation of a “Yojana” earlier. Readers might recollect that 1 Yojana is around 8 miles or around 12.8 to 13 kilometers in modern day measurement)”. This was Sage Naarada’s first point – If we’ve to translate the Yojana length into kilometers, we can see that Indra’s courtroom was around 1,280 to 1,300 kilometers in length and around 2,000 kilometers in breadth. We can imagine how big it would be! Moreover, the height of the courtroom as per Sage Naarada is around 5 Yojanas, which can be equated to around 65 to 70 kilometers!
Thus, we can see here the enormity of Indra’s “Sabhaa”. Moreover, Sage Naarada explains further thus, “Oh Yudishtra! If one goes and sits in Indra’s courtroom, he / she would not feel hungry at all! He / she would not feel thirsty at all! He / she would never feel sad for anything! There would always be happiness reigning in at all times! All those who sit in Indra’s courtroom would have a deep sense of satisfaction from within! In the middle of this massive courtroom, Indra would be sitting on top of a huge “Simha-Aasana”, surrounded by his wife Indraani (Sachi Devi) and enormous other people who would be fanning him from all directions! Thus, this is how the Indra Lokha looks like!”
Thus, Sage Naarada explains how massive the Indra Lokha is, and with this, he moves on to the next description – Now it is going to be about the Yama-Lokha! So for today, let us understand up to this point about the magnificent Indra Lokha, and in the next episode, we shall commence our discussion about the “Yama-Lokha!” Stay tuned! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 