Shloka 40
Adhyāya 160: Arjuna’s Envoy-Message—Critique of Borrowed Valor and Pre-dawn Mobilization
भीष्मवेगमपर्यन्तं द्रोणग्राहदुरासदम् | कर्णशल्यझषावर्त काम्बोजवडवामुखम्,'भीष्म उसके असीम वेग हैं, द्रोणाचार्यरूपी ग्राहके होनेसे इस सैन्यसागरमें प्रवेश करना अत्यन्त दुष्कर है, कर्ण और शल्य मत्स्य तथा आवर्त (भँवर)-का काम करते हैं और काम्बोजराज सुदक्षिण इसमें बड़वानल हैं
bhīṣmavegam aparyantaṃ droṇagrāhadurāsadam | karṇaśalyajhaṣāvarta kāmbojavaḍavāmukham ||
Улука сказал: «Это войско — как океан, и его безмерный натиск есть Бхишма. Войти в него крайне трудно, ибо Дрона — словно крокодил, затаившийся в засаде. Карна и Шалья — как большие рыбы и водовороты, а камбоджийский царь Судакшина — как подводный огонь, скрытый в его недрах».
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.