Shloka 25
Śalya-parva Adhyāya 26 — Duryodhana’s remnant formation and rapid engagements
महदासीतू तयोर्युद्धे चित्ररूपं भयानकम् | यादृशं समरे पूर्व जम्भवासवयोर्युधि,उस समय उन दोनोंमें विचित्र, भयानक और महान् युद्ध होने लगा। पूर्वकालमें रणक्षेत्रमें जम्भ और इन्द्रका जैसा युद्ध हुआ था, वैसा ही उन दोनोंका भी हुआ
mahād āsīt tu tayor yuddhe citrarūpaṃ bhayānakam | yādṛśaṃ samare pūrvaṃ jambhāvāsavayor yudhi ||
Sañjaya said: A great battle arose between those two—strange in its forms and terrifying to behold. It was like that ancient combat on the battlefield between Jambha and Vāsava (Indra); so too was the clash of these two warriors.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse heightens the moral and emotional gravity of war by likening a human duel to a mythic clash of cosmic scale; it underscores how battle can become awe-inspiring yet dreadful, reminding the listener that violence, even when heroic, carries terror and vast consequences.
Sañjaya describes the duel between two principal fighters (contextually, the leading warriors engaged at this point in Śalya Parva) as extraordinarily fierce and frightening, comparing it to the legendary battle between the asura Jambha and Indra (Vāsava).