Shloka 173

Adhyāya 108 — Nimitta-darśana and Drona’s counsel amid Arjuna’s advance (निमित्तदर्शनं द्रोणोपदेशश्च)

Devanagari script

पौर्णमास्यामम्बुवेगं यथा वेला महोददथे: । महाराज! तब राजा युधिष्छिर तथा पाण्बुपुत्र माद्रीनन्दन नकुल-सहदेवने समरभूमिमें उन घुड़सवारोंका वेग नष्ट कर दिया। ठीक उसी तरह

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca | paurṇamāsyām ambu-vegaṃ yathā velā mahodadheḥ | mahārāja! tadā rājā yudhiṣṭhiraḥ tathā pāṇḍu-putraḥ mādrī-nandanaḥ nakula-sahadevau samara-bhūmau teṣāṃ aśvārūḍhānāṃ vegam nāśayām āsa | tathāiva yathā varṣā-ṛtau bahu-jalena paripūrṇaḥ maryādāṃ laṅghitum icchan mahodadhiḥ paurṇamāsyāṃ vardhita-vegaḥ san taṭa-bhūmyā niruddhaḥ bhavati |

Translation

Sanjaya said: “O great king, just as the shoreline checks the surge of the mighty ocean when, on the full-moon day in the rainy season, it swells with abundant waters and strains to overstep its bounds—so too did King Yudhishthira, along with Nakula and Sahadeva, the sons of Pandu and Madri, break and nullify the momentum of those mounted horsemen on the battlefield.”

Word by Word

• {'sañjaya uvāca': 'Sanjaya said', 'paurṇamāsyām': 'on the full-moon day', 'ambu-vegaḥ': 'rush/surge of water', 'velā': 'shoreline

• coast', 'mahodadhiḥ / mahodadheḥ': 'the great ocean', 'mahārāja': 'O great king (address to Dhritarashtra)', 'tadā': 'then, at that time', 'rājā': 'king', 'yudhiṣṭhiraḥ': 'Yudhishthira', 'pāṇḍu-putraḥ': 'son of Pandu (Pandava)', 'mādrī-nandanaḥ': 'son of Madri (Nakula/Sahadeva)', 'nakula-sahadevau': 'Nakula and Sahadeva', 'samara-bhūmi': 'battlefield', 'aśvārūḍha': 'mounted on horses

• cavalryman', 'vegaḥ': 'speed

• momentum', 'nāśayati': 'to destroy

• to break', 'varṣā-ṛtu': 'rainy season', 'paripūrṇa': 'filled

• replete', 'maryādā': 'limit

• proper restraint', 'laṅghitum': 'to overstep

• to transgress', 'taṭa-bhūmi': 'bank/shore land

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sanjaya
• Dhritarashtra (addressed as Mahārāja)
• Yudhishthira
• Nakula
• Sahadeva
• Pandu
• Madri
• battlefield (samara-bhūmi)
• cavalry/horsemen (aśvārūḍhāḥ)
• ocean (mahodadhi)
• shoreline/coast (velā/taṭa)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the ethical ideal of maryādā (right limits): even immense force becomes meaningful only when governed by restraint and order. The Pandavas’ disciplined resistance is likened to the shore that prevents the ocean’s swelling power from becoming destructive.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sanjaya reports to Dhritarashtra that Yudhishthira, together with Nakula and Sahadeva, blunted and stopped the charge of enemy horsemen on the battlefield, just as the coast halts the ocean’s surging waves on a full-moon day in the rainy season.