भीष्मस्य भीमसेन-निरोधः
Bhīṣma checks Bhīmasena; matched engagements intensify
समुद्रस्पेव महतो भुजाभ्यां प्रतरन् नर: । जैसे अपनी भुजाओंसे तैरनेवाला मनुष्य महासागरका पार नहीं पा सकता, उसी प्रकार मैं इस दुःखका अन्त किसी प्रकार नहीं देखता हूँ
samudraspeva mahato bhujābhyāṃ prataraṃn naraḥ | yathā svabāhubhyāṃ plavamāno manuṣyo mahāsāgarasya pāraṃ na prāpnoti, tathāham asya duḥkhasyāntaṃ kathaṃcid api na paśyāmi ||
ধৃতৰাষ্ট্ৰ ক’লে— যেনেকৈ এজন মানুহ কেৱল নিজৰ বাহুবলে সাঁতৰি মহাসাগৰৰ সিপাৰ পাব নোৱাৰে, তেনেকৈ এই দুখৰো কোনো অন্ত মই একেবাৰে দেখা নাপাওঁ।
धृतराष्ट उवाच
Sorrow can become boundless when fueled by attachment and the consequences of one’s choices; mere personal strength is insufficient to ‘cross’ it. The verse implies the need for right counsel, self-restraint, and dharmic responsibility rather than helpless lamentation.
Dhṛtarāṣṭra, hearing of the catastrophic events of the Kurukṣetra war, expresses that his grief feels like a vast ocean with no visible end, using the image of a man unable to swim across a great sea with only his arms.