Shloka 5
भीमसेन-दुर्योधन-प्रहारः तथा घटोत्कचमायाप्रादुर्भावः | Bhīmasena–Duryodhana Clash and the Manifestation of Ghaṭotkaca’s Māyā
भीष्म: कृत्वा महाव्यूहं पिता तव विशाम्पते । सागरप्रतिमं घोरं वाहनोर्मितरज्धिणम्
sañjaya uvāca | bhīṣmaḥ kṛtvā mahāvyūhaṃ pitā tava viśāmpate | sāgarapratimaṃ ghoraṃ vāhanormitarajdhīṇam ||
Sañjaya said: O lord of the people, your father Bhīṣma, having formed a vast battle-array, made it dreadful and like the ocean—its waves seeming to be the surging ranks of mounts, elephants and horses, rising and rolling in tumult.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical weight of leadership in war: a commander’s strategic skill can create overwhelming force, yet such power intensifies the dread and responsibility borne by those who deploy it within the bounds of kshatriya-dharma.
Sanjaya reports to Dhritarashtra that Bhishma has arranged the Kaurava forces into a massive, terrifying formation, compared to an ocean whose waves appear as the surging lines of war-mounts like elephants and horses.