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Shloka 263

Bhīṣma-parva Adhyāya 16 — Saṃjaya’s Boon, Bhīṣma’s Protection, and the Dawn Arraying of Armies

Devanagari script

चुगान्ते समवेतौ द्वौ दृश्येते सागराविव । वे दोनों सेनाएँ प्रलयकालमें एक-दूसरेसे मिलनेवाले उन दो समुद्रोंके समान दृष्टिगोचर हो रही थीं, जिनमें मतवाले मगर और भँवरें होती हैं तथा जिनमें बड़े-बड़े ग्राह सब ओर फैले रहते हैं

Transliteration

cugānte samavetau dvau dṛśyete sāgarāv iva |

Translation

Sañjaya sprach: Gegen Ende des Tages erschienen die beiden Heere, nun einander gegenüber versammelt, wie zwei Ozeane, die zur Zeit der Auflösung aufeinandertreffen—aufgewühlt, voller Strudel und wilder Meeresungeheuer—und deuteten an, dass der kommende Zusammenstoß gewaltig, unbändig und verheerend sein würde, im moralischen wie im menschlichen Preis.

Word by Word

युगान्तेat the end of an age (yuga)

समवेतौhaving come together, assembled

द्वौtwo

दृश्येतेare seen, appear

सागरौtwo oceans

इवlike, as if

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

two armies

two oceans (simile)

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 an apocalyptic ocean-simile to underline the ethical gravity of war: once vast forces converge, violence can become like a natural catastrophe—hard to restrain, sweeping up the innocent and the guilty alike—thereby warning that adharma-driven conflict tends toward collective ruin.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that, as the day ends, the opposing forces have drawn together and stand confronting one another; their mass and agitation are compared to two oceans about to collide, foreshadowing the intensity of the next phase of battle.