Shloka 40
Adhyāya 160: Arjuna’s Envoy-Message—Critique of Borrowed Valor and Pre-dawn Mobilization
भीष्मवेगमपर्यन्तं द्रोणग्राहदुरासदम् | कर्णशल्यझषावर्त काम्बोजवडवामुखम्
bhīṣmavegam aparyantaṃ droṇagrāhadurāsadam | karṇaśalyajhaṣāvarta kāmbojavaḍavāmukham ||
Ulūka berkata: “Tentera ini laksana lautan; kelajuannya yang tiada bertepi ialah Bhīṣma. Sukar sekali untuk dimasuki, kerana Droṇa bagaikan buaya yang menunggu. Karṇa dan Śalya bertindak seperti ikan-ikan besar dan pusaran air; dan raja Kāmboja, Sudakṣiṇa, bagaikan api bawah laut yang tersembunyi di dalamnya.”
उलूक उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse illustrates how rhetoric and metaphor are used to project strength and deter an opponent: formidable leaders become natural forces (ocean, crocodile, whirlpool, submarine fire). Ethically, it highlights how war discourse often magnifies power to influence morale and decision-making, even before weapons are raised.
Ulūka, speaking for the Kaurava side, describes the Kaurava host as a perilous ocean. He assigns key warriors symbolic roles—Bhīṣma as unstoppable speed, Droṇa as a deadly crocodile, Karṇa and Śalya as dangerous sea-creatures/whirlpools, and Sudakṣiṇa of Kāmboja as the hidden submarine fire—aiming to intimidate and emphasize the difficulty of confronting their army.