Mahabharata — Shalya Parva, Shloka 34
रणभूमिवर्णनम् — Devāsuropama-yuddha and the ‘River’ Metaphor of the Battlefield
ससैन्यौ सहसैन्यौ तावुपतस्थतुराहवे । सेनासहित माद्रीकुमार नकुल और सहदेव युद्धस्थलमें अपनी सेनाके साथ खड़े हुए महारथी शकुनि और उलूकका सामना करनेके लिये उपस्थित थे || ३३ $ ।।
sasainyau sahasainyau tāv upatasthatur āhave | tathaivāyutaśo yodhās tāvakāḥ pāṇḍavān raṇe ||
Sañjaya said: Both of them, each accompanied by his own troops, took their stand on the battlefield, ready for combat. Likewise, countless warriors of yours confronted the Pāṇḍavas in the fight—an image of war’s vast momentum, where personal valor and duty are swallowed into the larger, morally fraught clash of kin against kin.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the scale and inevitability of armed confrontation once dharma has been strained to breaking: individuals ‘stand with their armies,’ and the conflict expands into vast numbers, reminding the reader that war magnifies consequences and tests duty, restraint, and moral discernment.
Sañjaya reports that two leaders, each with their own forces, take their positions for battle, and that innumerable warriors on the Kaurava side likewise engage the Pāṇḍavas in the fighting.
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