Shloka 9
अर्जुनस्य गुरुधर्मविलापः तथा शैनेयकर्णयोर्युद्धारम्भः | Arjuna’s Lament on Guru-Dharma and the Opening of the Sātyaki–Karṇa Duel
जलसंधार्णवं तीर्त्वा काम्बोजानां च वाहिनीम् । हार्दिक्यमकरान्मुक्त तीर्ण वै सैन्यसागरम्
jalasaṃdhārṇavaṃ tīrtvā kāmbojānāṃ ca vāhinīm | hārdikya-makarān muktaḥ tīrṇaḥ vai sainya-sāgaram ||
Sañjaya said: Having crossed that ocean-like mass of waters and the Kāmboja host as well, and having escaped the ‘crocodiles’ in the form of Hārdikya’s warriors, he indeed crossed the sea of armies. The verse frames the battlefield as a perilous ocean, where survival depends not only on strength but on steadiness and discernment amid overwhelming violence.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses the ‘ocean’ metaphor to highlight how war becomes an overwhelming, morally and physically dangerous environment; to endure it one must keep composure and clarity, avoiding the ‘crocodiles’—sudden lethal threats and destabilizing impulses.
Sañjaya describes a warrior (implied from context) successfully breaking through dense and dangerous enemy formations—likened to crossing a sea—passing the Kāmboja host and escaping the deadly fighters associated with Hārdikya (Kṛtavarman).