Shloka 12
यथा शिलोच्चये शैल: सागरे सागरो यथा । प्रतिहन्येत राजेन्द्र तथा55सन् कुरुपाण्डवा:,राजेन्द्र! जैसे एक पहाड़ दूसरे पहाड़से टकरा जाय तथा एक समुद्र दूसरे समुद्रसे टक्कर ले, वही अवस्था कौरव-पाण्डव योद्धाओंकी भी थी
sañjaya uvāca | yathā śilocchaye śailaḥ sāgare sāgaro yathā | pratihanyeta rājendra tathāsan kurupāṇḍavāḥ ||
Sañjaya said: “O king, just as one mountain crashes against another on a rocky height, and as one ocean surges to meet another, so did the Kurus and the Pāṇḍavas collide—an encounter of equal force, vastness, and unyielding resolve.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the overwhelming, almost elemental magnitude of the conflict: when power meets power without restraint, the result is a catastrophic collision. Ethically, it hints at the tragic momentum of war—once dharma is obscured by rivalry and vengeance, even great lineages crash together like natural forces.
Sañjaya reports to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra that the Kuru and Pāṇḍava warriors have met in battle with equal intensity. He uses two similes—mountain against mountain and ocean against ocean—to convey the scale, noise, and unstoppable force of their engagement.