Shloka 49

Devanagari script

ततः प्रायान्महाराज सौबलेय: प्रतापवान्‌ । रणाय महते युक्तो भ्रातृभि: परिवारित:

Transliteration

tataḥ prāyān mahārāja saubhaleyaḥ pratāpavān | raṇāya mahate yukto bhrātṛbhiḥ parivāritaḥ ||

Translation

サञ्जयは言った。「それから王よ、スバラの子にして勇名高きシャクニは、兄弟らに囲まれ、大戦の備えを整えて進み出た。戦のただ中で、恐るべき剛力のビーマセーナに迫るや、その勇士は彼を押しとどめた。まるで岸辺の地が大海をせき止めるように。」

Word by Word

• ततः: then, thereafter
• ततः: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ततः

• प्रायात्: went forth, advanced
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्र-या
• Form: Aorist (luṅ), 3, singular, Parasmaipada

• महाराज: O great king
• Type: Noun
• Root: महाराज
• Form: masculine, vocative, singular

• सौबलेयः: the son of Subala (Shakuni)
• सौबलेयः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: सौबलेय
• Form: masculine, nominative, singular

• प्रतापवान्: mighty, valorous
• Type: Adjective
• Root: प्रतापवत्
• Form: masculine, nominative, singular

• रणाय: for battle
• रणाय: Sampradana
• Type: Noun
• Root: रण
• Form: masculine, dative, singular

• महते: great
• Type: Adjective
• Root: महत्
• Form: masculine, dative, singular

• युक्तः: prepared, engaged, ready
• Type: Adjective
• Root: युज्
• Form: क्त (past passive participle), masculine, nominative, singular

• भ्रातृभिः: by/with brothers
• भ्रातृभिः: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: भ्रातृ
• Form: masculine, instrumental, plural

• परिवारितः: surrounded, encircled
• Type: Adjective
• Root: परि-√वृ (वृणोति/वृ)
• Form: क्त (past passive participle), masculine, nominative, singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Dhṛtarāṣṭra
• Śakuni (Saubhaleya, son of Subala)
• Subala
• Śakuni's brothers
• Bhīmasena
• Ocean/Sea (samudra)
• Shore/Bank-land (taṭa-bhūmi)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse uses a simile—shore restraining the sea—to highlight a moral-psychological truth of conflict: even immense force is met by boundaries and counterforces. In the ethical frame of the Mahābhārata, prowess alone does not guarantee victory; opposition, circumstance, and the larger moral order (dharma and consequence) shape outcomes.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that Śakuni, son of Subala, advances into the great battle surrounded by his brothers. He reaches Bhīmasena and checks/halts him in combat, likened to the shore holding back the sea.