Shloka 34
Śālva’s Elephant Assault and the Counterstroke (शाल्वस्य नागारूढाभ्यवहारः)
जघने युध्यमानं हि कौन्तेयो मां समन्ततः । नोत्सहेदभ्यतिक्रान्तुं वेलामिव महोदधि:
jaghane yudhyamānaṁ hi kaunteyo māṁ samantataḥ | notsahed abhyatikrāntuṁ velām iva mahodadhiḥ ||
សញ្ជ័យបាននិយាយ៖ «ពេលកូនប្រុសនៃកុនទីបន្តប្រយុទ្ធ គាត់បានចុះសង្កត់ខ្ញុំពីគ្រប់ទិស; ហើយខ្ញុំមិនអាចនាំខ្លួនឲ្យឆ្លងកាត់គាត់បានទេ—ដូចមហាសមុទ្រធំមិនអាចលើសព្រំដែនឆ្នេររបស់ខ្លួនបានដូច្នោះ»។
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the idea of restraint and inviolable limits: even amid violent conflict, there are boundaries one cannot (or should not) cross. The ocean-and-shore simile conveys an ethical and existential sense of constraint—power is real, yet it is held within a rightful limit.
Sañjaya reports that the Kaunteya (Arjuna) is fighting intensely and surrounding/pressing him from every direction. Under that pressure, Sañjaya says he is unable to break past or overrun him, comparing his inability to the ocean’s inability to cross its own shoreline.