Shloka 176

Devanagari script

उद्वृत्तानां यथा शब्द: समुद्राणां युगक्षये । अर्जुनके प्रति आक्रमण करते हुए उन वीरोंका सिंहनाद उसी प्रकार सुनायी पड़ा, जैसे प्रलयकालमें अपनी मर्यादा छोड़कर बढ़नेवाले समुद्रोंकी भीषण गर्जना सुनायी पड़ती है

Transliteration

udvṛttānāṃ yathā śabdaḥ samudrāṇāṃ yugakṣaye | arjunakaṃ prati ākramaṇaṃ kurvatāṃ teṣāṃ vīrāṇāṃ siṃhanādaḥ sa tathā śrūyate, yathā pralayakāle svāṃ maryādāṃ vihāya vardhamānānāṃ samudrāṇāṃ bhīṣaṇā garjanā śrūyate |

Translation

Sañjaya said: As, at the end of an age, the oceans—casting aside their bounds—rise up with a terrifying roar, so too was heard the lion-like battle-cry of those heroes as they surged forward to assail Arjuna. The image underscores the overwhelming, world-shaking force of war when restraint collapses and destruction seems to swell beyond measure.

Word by Word

उद्वृत्तानाम्of (those) overflowing / risen beyond bounds

यथाas, just as

शब्दःsound, roar

समुद्राणाम्of the oceans

युगक्षयेat the end of an age (world-dissolution)

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Arjuna

oceans (samudrāḥ)

yugakṣaya (end of the age)

pralaya (cosmic dissolution)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse uses cosmic dissolution imagery to highlight how war magnifies when maryādā (restraint and limits) collapses; it implicitly warns that abandoning bounds—ethical or natural—unleashes overwhelming, destructive force.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports that warriors advancing to attack Arjuna raised such a thunderous lion-cry that it resembled the fearsome roar of oceans swelling beyond their limits at the end of an age.