Shloka 30
इन्द्र और बलिके समान महापराक्रमी वे दोनों अत्यन्त मायावी राक्षस अपनी मायाओंद्वारा एक-दूसरेसे बढ़ जानेकी चेष्टा करते हुए परस्पर युद्ध कर रहे थे ।। पावकाम्बुनिधी भूत्वा पुनर्गरुडतक्षकौ । पुनर्मेघमहावातौ पुनर्वज़महाचलौ,एकने आग बनकर आक्रमण किया तो दूसरेने महासागर बनकर उसे बुझा दिया। इसी प्रकार एक तक्षक नाग बना तो दूसरा गरुड़।| फिर एक मेघ बना तो दूसरा प्रचण्ड वायु। तत्पश्चात् एक महान् पर्वत बनकर खड़ा हुआ तो दूसरा वज् बनकर उसपर टूट पड़ा
pāvakāmbunidhī bhūtvā punar garuḍa-takṣakau | punar megha-mahāvātau punar vajra-mahācalau ||
Sañjaya said: Those two exceedingly powerful and highly illusory rākṣasas, like Indra and Bali in might, fought one another while striving to outdo each other through their māyā. Again and again they assumed opposing forms: one became blazing fire and the other the ocean to quench it; one became Takṣaka the serpent and the other Garuḍa; one became a rain-cloud and the other a violent wind; then one stood as a great mountain and the other struck it as a thunderbolt. The scene displays how, in war, power without restraint turns into a contest of domination rather than a pursuit of dharma.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how unchecked ambition and the urge to surpass an opponent can turn conflict into a spectacle of power (māyā and counter-māyā). Ethically, it contrasts mere dominance with dharmic restraint: strength becomes meaningful only when governed by right purpose and self-control.
Sañjaya describes two rākṣasa warriors fighting by magical transformations. Each form is met by a counter-form—fire by ocean, serpent by Garuḍa, cloud by tempest wind, mountain by thunderbolt—showing an escalating duel where neither yields and each tries to outmatch the other.