Shloka 50
Sainyasaṅgraha and Bhāga-Vyavasthā (Forces Assembled and Rival Allocations) | सैन्यसंग्रह-भागव्यवस्था
“धृतराष्ट्रपुत्र दुर्योधनके द्वारा एकत्र किये हुए जो-जो नरेश अस्त्र-शस्त्रोंकी मारकाटसे व्याप्त हुए भयानक संग्राममें मेरे सामने आयेंगे
dhṛtarāṣṭraputra duryodhanakena ekatrīkṛtā ye ye nareśā astrāśastramārakāṭena vyāptā bhayānake saṅgrāme mama samakṣam āyāsyanti, te katicid api krodhena pūrṇāḥ syuḥ, svasvajanasahitaṃ raṇabhūmim āgatān sarvān tān rājñaḥ aham eka eva tathā vaśe kariṣyāmi yathā timināmā mahāmatsyaḥ jalasya anyāḥ matsyān nigilati. bhīṣmaṃ droṇaṃ kṛpaṃ karṇaṃ drauṇiṃ śalyaṃ suyodhanam, etān śv api nirotsye velā iva makarālayam.
Sanjaya sprach: „Alle Könige, die Duryodhana, der Sohn Dhritarashtras, zusammengebracht hat—die mir in jener schrecklichen Schlacht entgegentreten werden, erfüllt vom Gemetzel der Waffen—wie sehr sie auch vor Zorn entbrennen mögen und selbst wenn sie mit ihren Verwandten das Feld betreten: Ich allein werde sie unterwerfen, wie der große Fisch namens Timi die anderen Fische im Wasser verschlingt. Selbst Bhishma, Drona, Kripa, Karna, Ashvatthama, Dronas Sohn, Shalya und Suyodhana (Duryodhana)—selbst diese werde ich zurückhalten, wie das Ufer den Ozean, die Heimstatt der Makaras, in Schranken hält.“
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the moral tension between confidence and overconfidence in war: a warrior’s resolve to restrain violence can be framed as ‘control,’ yet the imagery (swallowing fish; holding back the ocean) also warns how claims of absolute dominance can shade into hubris, a recurring ethical fault-line in the Mahabharata.
In Udyoga Parva’s pre-war buildup, Sanjaya reports a forceful declaration of martial capability: the speaker claims he can single-handedly subdue the kings assembled by Duryodhana and even check famed champions like Bhishma, Drona, Kripa, Karna, Ashvatthama, and Shalya—using vivid similes of the Timi fish and the shoreline restraining the sea.