Shloka 35
Vāg-yuddha and Nimitta-darśana before the Gadāyuddha
Verbal Duel and Omens
नखदंष्टायुधौ वीरौ व्याप्राविव दुरुत्सहौ । प्रजासंहरणे क्षुब्धौ समुद्राविव दुस्तरी
sañjaya uvāca
nakhadaṃṣṭrāyudhau vīrau vyāghrāv iva durutsahau |
prajāsaṃharaṇe kṣubdhau samudrāv iva dustarau ||
Sañjaya said: “Those two heroes, armed as if with claws and fangs, were like tigers—fierce and hard to withstand. Stirred up for the destruction of men, they were like two oceans in turmoil, impossible to cross.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the moral gravity of war: when warriors become ‘stirred for the destruction of people,’ their power turns into an overwhelming, indiscriminate force—suggesting the ethical peril of rage and the dehumanizing momentum of battle.
Sañjaya describes two combatants at a climactic moment of fighting, portraying their ferocity through similes—like tigers in close attack and like storm-tossed oceans that cannot be crossed—emphasizing how unstoppable they appear on the battlefield.