Shloka 273
हरीन्द्रयोर्यथा राजन् वालिसुग्रीवयो: पुरा । उन पर्वत-शिखरोंके टकरानेसे ऐसा महान् शब्द होता था, मानो वज्र फट पड़े हों। नरेश्वर! घटोत्कव और अलायुधका वह भयंकर युद्ध वैसा ही हो रहा था, जैसे पहले त्रेतायुगमें वानरराज बाली और सुग्रीवका युद्ध सुना गया है
harīndrayor yathā rājan vālisugrīvayoḥ purā | parvata-śikharāṇāṃ ṭakarāṇena yathā mahān śabdo bhavati, vajraṃ sphuṭitam iva | nareśvara! ghaṭotkaca-alāyudhayor bhayaṅkaraṃ yuddhaṃ tathāiva pravartate, yathā pūrvaṃ tretāyuge vānara-rājā vāli-sugrīvayor yuddhaṃ śrutam ||
Sañjaya said: “O King, just as in ancient times the clash between the two mighty lords among monkeys—Vāli and Sugrīva—was heard of, so too was this. From the striking together of mountain-peaks there arises a tremendous roar, as though a thunderbolt had split; in the same manner, O ruler of men, the dreadful combat between Ghaṭotkaca and Alāyudha was unfolding—echoing that famed battle of the Tretā age.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how epic tradition frames present violence through remembered exemplars: the Kurukṣetra duel is measured against a famed earlier combat (Vāli–Sugrīva). Ethically, it underscores the terrifying magnitude of war and the way reputation and precedent shape how deeds are judged and remembered.
Sañjaya describes to the king the ferocious duel between Ghaṭotkaca and Alāyudha. He likens its crashing noise to mountain-peaks colliding and to a thunderbolt splitting, and compares the combat’s intensity to the legendary fight between Vāli and Sugrīva in the Tretā age.