Shloka 40
भीष्मवेगमपर्यन्तं द्रोणग्राहदुरासदम् | कर्णशल्यझषावर्त काम्बोजवडवामुखम्,'भीष्म उसके असीम वेग हैं, द्रोणाचार्यरूपी ग्राहके होनेसे इस सैन्यसागरमें प्रवेश करना अत्यन्त दुष्कर है, कर्ण और शल्य मत्स्य तथा आवर्त (भँवर)-का काम करते हैं और काम्बोजराज सुदक्षिण इसमें बड़वानल हैं
bhīṣmavegam aparyantaṃ droṇagrāhadurāsadam | karṇaśalyajhaṣāvarta kāmbojavaḍavāmukham ||
Ulūka said: “This army is like an ocean whose boundless speed is Bhīṣma. It is extremely hard to enter, for Droṇa is like a crocodile lying in wait. Karṇa and Śalya act like great fish and whirlpools, and the Kāmboja king Sudakṣiṇa is like the submarine fire within it.”
उलूक उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse illustrates how rhetoric and metaphor are used to project strength and deter an opponent: formidable leaders become natural forces (ocean, crocodile, whirlpool, submarine fire). Ethically, it highlights how war discourse often magnifies power to influence morale and decision-making, even before weapons are raised.
Ulūka, speaking for the Kaurava side, describes the Kaurava host as a perilous ocean. He assigns key warriors symbolic roles—Bhīṣma as unstoppable speed, Droṇa as a deadly crocodile, Karṇa and Śalya as dangerous sea-creatures/whirlpools, and Sudakṣiṇa of Kāmboja as the hidden submarine fire—aiming to intimidate and emphasize the difficulty of confronting their army.