Shloka 173

Adhyāya 108 — Nimitta-darśana and Drona’s counsel amid Arjuna’s advance (निमित्तदर्शनं द्रोणोपदेशश्च)

Devanagari script

पौर्णमास्यामम्बुवेगं यथा वेला महोददथे: । महाराज! तब राजा युधिष्छिर तथा पाण्बुपुत्र माद्रीनन्दन नकुल-सहदेवने समरभूमिमें उन घुड़सवारोंका वेग नष्ट कर दिया। ठीक उसी तरह, जैसे वर्षा-ऋतुमें अधिक जलसे परिपूर्ण होकर मर्यादा तोड़नेवाले समुद्रके पूर्णिमा तिथिमें बढ़े हुए वेगको तटकी भूमि रोक देती है

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca | paurṇamāsyām ambu-vegaṃ yathā velā mahodadheḥ | mahārāja! tadā rājā yudhiṣṭhiraḥ tathā pāṇḍu-putraḥ mādrī-nandanaḥ nakula-sahadevau samara-bhūmau teṣāṃ aśvārūḍhānāṃ vegam nāśayām āsa | tathāiva yathā varṣā-ṛtau bahu-jalena paripūrṇaḥ maryādāṃ laṅghitum icchan mahodadhiḥ paurṇamāsyāṃ vardhita-vegaḥ san taṭa-bhūmyā niruddhaḥ bhavati |

Translation

Sañjaya disse: “Ó grande rei, assim como a linha da costa contém o ímpeto do vasto oceano quando, no dia de lua cheia da estação das chuvas, ele incha com águas abundantes e parece querer transpor seus limites—do mesmo modo o rei Yudhishthira, junto de Nakula e Sahadeva, filhos de Pandu e de Madri, quebrou e anulou no campo de batalha o ímpeto daqueles cavaleiros.”

Word by Word

• {'sañjaya uvāca': 'Sanjaya said', 'paurṇamāsyām': 'on the full-moon day', 'ambu-vegaḥ': 'rush/surge of water', 'velā': 'shoreline

• coast', 'mahodadhiḥ / mahodadheḥ': 'the great ocean', 'mahārāja': 'O great king (address to Dhritarashtra)', 'tadā': 'then, at that time', 'rājā': 'king', 'yudhiṣṭhiraḥ': 'Yudhishthira', 'pāṇḍu-putraḥ': 'son of Pandu (Pandava)', 'mādrī-nandanaḥ': 'son of Madri (Nakula/Sahadeva)', 'nakula-sahadevau': 'Nakula and Sahadeva', 'samara-bhūmi': 'battlefield', 'aśvārūḍha': 'mounted on horses

• cavalryman', 'vegaḥ': 'speed

• momentum', 'nāśayati': 'to destroy

• to break', 'varṣā-ṛtu': 'rainy season', 'paripūrṇa': 'filled

• replete', 'maryādā': 'limit

• proper restraint', 'laṅghitum': 'to overstep

• to transgress', 'taṭa-bhūmi': 'bank/shore land

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sanjaya
• Dhritarashtra (addressed as Mahārāja)
• Yudhishthira
• Nakula
• Sahadeva
• Pandu
• Madri
• battlefield (samara-bhūmi)
• cavalry/horsemen (aśvārūḍhāḥ)
• ocean (mahodadhi)
• shoreline/coast (velā/taṭa)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the ethical ideal of maryādā (right limits): even immense force becomes meaningful only when governed by restraint and order. The Pandavas’ disciplined resistance is likened to the shore that prevents the ocean’s swelling power from becoming destructive.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sanjaya reports to Dhritarashtra that Yudhishthira, together with Nakula and Sahadeva, blunted and stopped the charge of enemy horsemen on the battlefield, just as the coast halts the ocean’s surging waves on a full-moon day in the rainy season.