Shloka 22

भीष्मवधोपाय-प्रश्नः (Inquiry into the means to overcome Bhīṣma) | Chapter 103

Devanagari script

त॑ श्रुत्वा निनदं घोरं तव सैन्यस्थ भारत । मारुतोद्धूतवेगस्य सागरस्येव पर्वणि,भरतवंशी नरेश! पूर्णिमाके दिन वायुके थपेड़ोंसे उद्वेलित हुए समुद्रकी गर्जनाके समान आपकी सेनाका वह भयंकर चीत्कार सुनकर उस समय दुर्योधनने राक्षस ऋष्यशंगपुत्र अलम्बुषसे इस प्रकार कहा--“महाबाहो! यह अर्जुनका पुत्र द्वितीय अर्जुनके समान पराक्रमी है

Transliteration

taṁ śrutvā ninadaṁ ghoraṁ tava sainyastha bhārata | mārutoddhūta-vegasya sāgarasyeva parvaṇi ||

Translation

Sañjaya sprach: O König aus dem Geschlecht der Bhāratas, als jenes schreckliche Dröhnen in deinem Heer erklang, war es wie das donnernde Aufwallen des Ozeans zur Vollmondflut, wenn der Wind seine Wasser gewaltsam aufpeitscht. In diesem Augenblick, vom Getöse der Schlacht erregt, wandte sich Duryodhana an Alambusha—den Rakshasa, den Sohn Ṛśyaśṛṅgas—und sprach von der Tapferkeit von Arjunas Sohn, den er einem zweiten Arjuna gleichsetzte.

Word by Word

तत्that

श्रुत्वाhaving heard

निनदम्roar, loud sound

घोरम्terrible, dreadful

तवof you, your

सैन्यस्थstanding in (your) army; stationed with the army

भारतO Bharata

मारुत-उद्धूत-वेगस्यof (one) whose speed is driven up by the wind

सागरस्यof the ocean

इवlike, as

पर्वणिon the (lunar) festival day; at the full/new-moon time

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sanjaya

Dhritarashtra (implied by address 'Bhārata')

Kaurava army (tava sainya)

Ocean (sāgara)

Wind (māruta)

Duryodhana (from the accompanying prose context)

Alambusha (from the accompanying prose context)

Rishyasringa (from the accompanying prose context)

Arjuna (from the accompanying prose context)

Arjuna’s son (Abhimanyu implied in the accompanying prose context)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse uses a powerful simile to show how collective violence and fear amplify in war: the army’s roar becomes ocean-like when driven by the ‘wind’ of agitation. Ethically, it highlights how conflict magnifies passions (krodha, bhaya, utsāha), often overwhelming discernment and drawing leaders into escalating responses.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sanjaya reports to Dhritarashtra that a terrifying uproar rises within the Kaurava forces, likened to the ocean’s thunder at full-moon tide under strong winds. In the immediate narrative flow (as reflected in the accompanying prose), Duryodhana reacts to the battlefield situation and addresses the rakshasa warrior Alambusha, speaking of Arjuna’s son as being as formidable as a ‘second Arjuna.’