Shloka 49
ततः प्रायान्महाराज सौबलेय: प्रतापवान् । रणाय महते युक्तो भ्रातृभि: परिवारित:
tataḥ prāyān mahārāja saubhaleyaḥ pratāpavān | raṇāya mahate yukto bhrātṛbhiḥ parivāritaḥ ||
Sañjaya said: Then, O King, the valiant son of Subala—Śakuni—surrounded by his brothers and fully prepared for the great battle, advanced. Reaching the dreadful and mighty Bhīmasena in the thick of combat, that hero checked him, just as the shore-land holds back the sea.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses a simile—shore restraining the sea—to highlight a moral-psychological truth of conflict: even immense force is met by boundaries and counterforces. In the ethical frame of the Mahābhārata, prowess alone does not guarantee victory; opposition, circumstance, and the larger moral order (dharma and consequence) shape outcomes.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that Śakuni, son of Subala, advances into the great battle surrounded by his brothers. He reaches Bhīmasena and checks/halts him in combat, likened to the shore holding back the sea.