Mahabharata 7.121.2 — Drona Parva, Adhyaya 121, Shloka 2
जयद्रथवधः — The Slaying of Jayadratha
Sunset Vow and Curse-Condition
रथाश्वनागकलिलं शरशक्त्यूमिमालिनम् । खड्गमत्स्यं गदाग्राहं शूरायुधभहास्वनम्
sañjaya uvāca |
rathāśvanāgakalilaṃ śaraśaktyūrmimālinam |
khaḍgamatsyaṃ gadāgrāhaṃ śūrāyudhabahāsvanam ||
“तात! रथ, घोडे आणि हत्ती यांनी दाटलेली द्रोणाचार्यांची सेना महासागरासारखी होती. त्यात बाण व शक्ती इत्यादी अस्त्र-शस्त्रे जणू तरंगमाळा; खड्ग जणू मासे, आणि गदा जणू ग्राह. शूरवीरांच्या आयुधप्रहारातून उठणारा महान् नाद जणू सागराचा भयंकर गर्जन होता.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse does not preach a direct moral maxim; it conveys the ethical weight of war through imagery: battle is an overwhelming, engulfing force—like an ocean—where weapons become the very ‘creatures’ and ‘waves’ that threaten life. The simile underscores how easily human agency is swallowed by collective violence.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra, portraying Droṇa’s forces as a terrifying ‘army-ocean’ packed with chariots, horses, and elephants; arrows and spears are its waves, swords its fish, and maces its crocodiles, while the clash of weapons forms its thunderous roar.
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