Shloka 11
Śaineya’s Breakthrough and Reunion with Arjuna (शैनेयस्य समागमः)
हमारा प्रिय करनेकी इच्छावाले तथा सेना और अनुचरोंसहित स्वेच्छासे ही हमारे पक्षमें आये हुए बहुत-से भूपालगण भी इसकी रक्षामें तत्पर रहते हैं ।। महोदधिमिवापूर्णमापगाभि: समन्ततः । अपक्षै: पक्षिसंकाशै रथैरश्वैश्व संवृतम्,सम्पूर्ण दिशाओंसे बहकर आयी हुई नदियोंसे परिपूर्ण होनेवाले महासागरके समान हमारी यह सेना अगाध और अपार है। पक्षरहित एवं पक्षियोंके समान तीव्र वेगसे चलनेवाले रथों और घोड़ोंसे यह भरी हुई है
sañjaya uvāca | asmākaṁ priya-karaṇecchavaḥ senānucaraiḥ saha svacchandata eva asmākaṁ pakṣe samāgatā bahavo bhūpālā api asya rakṣaṇe tatparā bhavanti || mahodadhim ivāpūrṇam āpagābhiḥ samantataḥ | apakṣaiḥ pakṣi-saṅkāśai rathair aśvaiś ca saṁvṛtam | sampūrṇa-diśābhir vahadbhiḥ nadībhiḥ paripūrṇasya mahāsāgarasya iva asmākaṁ iyaṁ senā agādha-apārā | pakṣa-rahitaiḥ pakṣi-vat tīvra-vega-gāminībhiḥ ratha-aśva-sampadbhir eṣā paripūrṇā ||
Sañjaya said: “Many kings too—eager to do what pleases us—have come of their own free will to our side with their armies and attendants, and they stand ready to protect him. Our host is like the great ocean, filled on every side by rivers flowing in from all directions—deep and boundless. It is crowded with wingless yet bird-like swift chariots and horses, surging with irresistible momentum.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how political loyalty and military strength are rhetorically framed as overwhelming and ‘natural’—like an ocean fed by rivers. Ethically, it shows the Mahābhārata’s recurring tension: power and numbers can inspire confidence, yet they do not by themselves guarantee righteousness (dharma) or just outcomes.
Sañjaya reports that many kings have voluntarily joined the Kaurava side with their forces and are ready to protect their leader/party. He then uses a grand simile: the Kaurava army is like a vast ocean, filled from all directions, and packed with swift chariots and horses moving like birds though wingless.