Shloka 13
समुद्धूतार्णवाकारमुद्धूतरथकुञ्जरम् । भरतश्रेष्ठ वह सेना विश्षुब्ध महासागरके समान कोलाहल कर रही थी। उसके रथ और हाथी बड़े वेगसे आगे बढ़ रहे थे, मानो किसी महासमुद्रमें ज्वार उठ रहा हो ।। १२३ || धृतराष्ट्र रवाच द्रोणस्य चैव भीष्मस्य राधेयस्य च मे श्रुतम्
saṃuddhūtārṇavākāram uddhūtarathakuñjaram | bharataśreṣṭha tava senā viṣubdhā mahāsāgarake samāna kolāhalaṃ karatī thī | tasya rathāś ca hastinaś ca mahāvegena agre pravavṛduḥ, māno mahāsamudre jvāra uttiṣṭhet || 123 || dhṛtarāṣṭra uvāca droṇasya caiva bhīṣmasya rādheyasya ca me śrutam
Sañjaya said: “O best of the Bharatas, your army rose in tumult like a heaving ocean. Its chariots and elephants surged forward with great speed, as though a mighty tide had lifted in the vast sea.” Dhṛtarāṣṭra said: “I have heard of Droṇa, of Bhīṣma, and of Rādheya (Karna) …”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores how collective violence gains unstoppable momentum once unleashed: the army’s roar and forward surge are likened to an oceanic tide, suggesting that war amplifies human passions beyond easy control and demands sober responsibility from rulers.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that the Kuru host is advancing with deafening tumult, chariots and elephants rushing ahead like a swelling sea; immediately after, the narration shifts as Dhṛtarāṣṭra begins speaking, invoking famed warriors—Droṇa, Bhīṣma, and Karṇa.