Mahabharata 7.116.11 — Drona Parva, Adhyaya 116, Shloka 11

Śaineya’s Breakthrough and Reunion with Arjuna (शैनेयस्य समागमः)

Devanagari script

हमारा प्रिय करनेकी इच्छावाले तथा सेना और अनुचरोंसहित स्वेच्छासे ही हमारे पक्षमें आये हुए बहुत-से भूपालगण भी इसकी रक्षामें तत्पर रहते हैं ।।

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca | asmākaṁ priya-karaṇecchavaḥ senānucaraiḥ saha svacchandata eva asmākaṁ pakṣe samāgatā bahavo bhūpālā api asya rakṣaṇe tatparā bhavanti || mahodadhim ivāpūrṇam āpagābhiḥ samantataḥ | apakṣaiḥ pakṣi-saṅkāśai rathair aśvaiś ca saṁvṛtam | sampūrṇa-diśābhir vahadbhiḥ nadībhiḥ paripūrṇasya mahāsāgarasya iva asmākaṁ iyaṁ senā agādha-apārā | pakṣa-rahitaiḥ pakṣi-vat tīvra-vega-gāminībhiḥ ratha-aśva-sampadbhir eṣā paripūrṇā ||

Translation

サञ्जयは言った。「我らを喜ばせたいと願う多くの王たちもまた、自らの意志で軍勢と従者を率いて我らの側に来たり、彼を守らんと備えて立っている。我らの軍は、四方八方から河が流れ込み満ちあふれる大海のごとく、深くして果てしない。そこには翼なきものながら鳥のごとく迅速な戦車と馬がひしめき、抗しがたい勢いでうねり進む。」

Word by Word

• महोदधिम्: great ocean
• महोदधिम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: महोदधि
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• इव: like/as
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इव

• आपूर्णम्: completely filled
• Type: Adjective
• Root: आपूर्ण
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• आपगाभिः: by rivers/streams
• आपगाभिः: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: आपगा
• Form: Feminine, Instrumental, Plural

• समन्ततः: on all sides
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: समन्ततः

• अपक्षैः: wingless
• अपक्षैः: Karana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अपक्ष
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Plural

• पक्षि-संकाशैः: resembling birds
• पक्षि-संकाशैः: Karana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पक्षि-संकाश
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Plural

• रथैः: with chariots
• रथैः: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: रथ
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Plural

• अश्वैः: with horses
• अश्वैः: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: अश्व
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Plural

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• संवृतम्: covered/surrounded
• Type: Adjective
• Root: संवृत
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• kings (bhūpālāḥ)
• army (senā)
• attendants/followers (anucarāḥ)
• ocean (mahodadhi/mahāsāgara)
• rivers (āpagaḥ)
• chariots (rathāḥ)
• horses (aśvāḥ)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how political loyalty and military strength are rhetorically framed as overwhelming and ‘natural’—like an ocean fed by rivers. Ethically, it shows the Mahābhārata’s recurring tension: power and numbers can inspire confidence, yet they do not by themselves guarantee righteousness (dharma) or just outcomes.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports that many kings have voluntarily joined the Kaurava side with their forces and are ready to protect their leader/party. He then uses a grand simile: the Kaurava army is like a vast ocean, filled from all directions, and packed with swift chariots and horses moving like birds though wingless.