संग्रामे भरतश्रेष्ठ देवानां दानवैरिव । भरतभूषण! उनका वह भयंकर युद्ध देवासुरसंग्रामके समान रोंगटे खड़े कर देनेवाला था
saṅgrāme bharataśreṣṭha devānāṃ dānavair iva | bharatabhūṣaṇa! unakā vaha bhayaṅkara yuddha devāsura-saṅgrāma-ke samāna roṅgaṭe khaḍe kara dene-vālā thā |
Sañjaya said: “O best of the Bharatas, O ornament of the Bharata line! That dreadful battle was like the war between the gods and the demons—so terrifying that it made one’s hair stand on end.”
संजय उवाच
The verse frames human warfare within a cosmic moral imagination: the Kurukṣetra battle is portrayed as so vast and dreadful that it resembles the archetypal devas-versus-asuras conflict. Ethically, it underscores the gravity of kṣatriya violence—its awe, terror, and world-shaking consequences—rather than glorifying it.
Sañjaya is reporting the intensity of the fighting to the Bharata king (addressed with honorifics). He uses a powerful simile—comparing the scene to the divine-demonic war—to convey how frightening and extraordinary the battle has become.