Shloka 49
Sainyasaṅgraha and Bhāga-Vyavasthā (Forces Assembled and Rival Allocations) | सैन्यसंग्रह-भागव्यवस्था
तान् सर्वानाहवे क्रुद्धान् सानुबन्धान् समागतान् | अहमेक: समादास्ये तिमिर्मत्स्यानिवौदकान्
tān sarvān āhave kruddhān sānubandhān samāgatān | aham ekaḥ samādāsye timir-matsyān ivaudakān ||
Sanjaya said: “All those men, enraged and assembled for battle—together with their followers and allies—I alone will seize and subdue, just as one would catch the timira-fish in the water.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the psychology of war-speech: confidence can harden into overconfidence, and martial rhetoric often reduces complex human opposition to something easily ‘caught.’ Ethically, it warns how anger and pride can distort judgment in the lead-up to conflict.
Sañjaya reports a warrior’s defiant claim: seeing the opposing side gathered and furious for battle, he declares that he alone will capture them all, using the image of catching fish in water to convey ease and dominance.