Shloka 173

Adhyāya 108 — Nimitta-darśana and Drona’s counsel amid Arjuna’s advance (निमित्तदर्शनं द्रोणोपदेशश्च)

Devanagari script

पौर्णमास्यामम्बुवेगं यथा वेला महोददथे: । महाराज! तब राजा युधिष्छिर तथा पाण्बुपुत्र माद्रीनन्दन नकुल-सहदेवने समरभूमिमें उन घुड़सवारोंका वेग नष्ट कर दिया। ठीक उसी तरह

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca | paurṇamāsyām ambu-vegaṃ yathā velā mahodadheḥ | mahārāja! tadā rājā yudhiṣṭhiraḥ tathā pāṇḍu-putraḥ mādrī-nandanaḥ nakula-sahadevau samara-bhūmau teṣāṃ aśvārūḍhānāṃ vegam nāśayām āsa | tathāiva yathā varṣā-ṛtau bahu-jalena paripūrṇaḥ maryādāṃ laṅghitum icchan mahodadhiḥ paurṇamāsyāṃ vardhita-vegaḥ san taṭa-bhūmyā niruddhaḥ bhavati |

Translation

Sañjaya dit : «Ô grand roi, de même que le rivage retient l’élan de l’océan immense lorsque, au jour de pleine lune de la saison des pluies, il enfle d’eaux surabondantes et cherche à franchir ses limites, ainsi le roi Yudhishthira, avec Nakula et Sahadeva, fils de Pându et de Mâdrî, brisa et réduisit à néant l’impétuosité de ces cavaliers sur le champ de bataille.»

Word by Word

• {'sañjaya uvāca': 'Sanjaya said', 'paurṇamāsyām': 'on the full-moon day', 'ambu-vegaḥ': 'rush/surge of water', 'velā': 'shoreline

• coast', 'mahodadhiḥ / mahodadheḥ': 'the great ocean', 'mahārāja': 'O great king (address to Dhritarashtra)', 'tadā': 'then, at that time', 'rājā': 'king', 'yudhiṣṭhiraḥ': 'Yudhishthira', 'pāṇḍu-putraḥ': 'son of Pandu (Pandava)', 'mādrī-nandanaḥ': 'son of Madri (Nakula/Sahadeva)', 'nakula-sahadevau': 'Nakula and Sahadeva', 'samara-bhūmi': 'battlefield', 'aśvārūḍha': 'mounted on horses

• cavalryman', 'vegaḥ': 'speed

• momentum', 'nāśayati': 'to destroy

• to break', 'varṣā-ṛtu': 'rainy season', 'paripūrṇa': 'filled

• replete', 'maryādā': 'limit

• proper restraint', 'laṅghitum': 'to overstep

• to transgress', 'taṭa-bhūmi': 'bank/shore land

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sanjaya
• Dhritarashtra (addressed as Mahārāja)
• Yudhishthira
• Nakula
• Sahadeva
• Pandu
• Madri
• battlefield (samara-bhūmi)
• cavalry/horsemen (aśvārūḍhāḥ)
• ocean (mahodadhi)
• shoreline/coast (velā/taṭa)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the ethical ideal of maryādā (right limits): even immense force becomes meaningful only when governed by restraint and order. The Pandavas’ disciplined resistance is likened to the shore that prevents the ocean’s swelling power from becoming destructive.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sanjaya reports to Dhritarashtra that Yudhishthira, together with Nakula and Sahadeva, blunted and stopped the charge of enemy horsemen on the battlefield, just as the coast halts the ocean’s surging waves on a full-moon day in the rainy season.