Shloka 30
Bhīṣma-nipāta-saṃvāda — Sañjaya’s Report of Bhīṣma’s Fall (भीष्मनिपातसंवादः)
गदासिमकरावासं हयावर्त गजाकुलम् | पदातिमत्स्यकलिलं शड्खदुन्दुभिनि:स्वनम्
dhṛtarāṣṭra uvāca | gadāsimakarāvāsaṃ hayāvarta-gajākulam | padāti-matsya-kalilaṃ śaṅkha-dundubhi-niḥsvanam ||
قال دِهْرِتَرَاشْتْرَا: «كان ميدانُ القتال كبحرٍ تسكنه تماسيحُ على هيئةِ الهراواتِ والسيوف. وكان مُرعِبًا بدوّاماتِ الخيل؛ مكتظًّا بالفيلة كالفيلةِ المائيةِ العظيمة؛ والمشاةُ فيه كأسرابِ السمكِ المتكاثفة. وأصواتُ الصدَفِ (الشَّنْخ) ودويُّ الطبولِ الحربية كانت زئيرَ ذلك البحر.»
धृतराष्ट उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse does not give a direct moral injunction; it intensifies the ethical gravity of war by portraying the battlefield as a perilous ocean. The imagery underscores how weapons and armies become forces of destruction, inviting reflection on the cost of adharma-driven conflict and the fearful momentum of violence once unleashed.
Dhṛtarāṣṭra, hearing Sañjaya’s account, describes (or echoes the description of) the Kurukṣetra scene through a sustained ocean-simile: weapons are sea-monsters, cavalry are whirlpools, elephants are aquatic giants, infantry are shoals of fish, and the conches and drums form the ocean’s roar—conveying the vast, chaotic, and terrifying onset of battle.