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Shloka 86

भीष्मस्य भीमसेन-निरोधः

Bhīṣma checks Bhīmasena; matched engagements intensify

समुद्रस्पेव महतो भुजाभ्यां प्रतरन्‌ नर: । जैसे अपनी भुजाओंसे तैरनेवाला मनुष्य महासागरका पार नहीं पा सकता, उसी प्रकार मैं इस दुःखका अन्त किसी प्रकार नहीं देखता हूँ

samudraspeva mahato bhujābhyāṃ prataraṃn naraḥ | yathā svabāhubhyāṃ plavamāno manuṣyo mahāsāgarasya pāraṃ na prāpnoti, tathāham asya duḥkhasyāntaṃ kathaṃcid api na paśyāmi ||

Wika ni Dhṛtarāṣṭra: “Kung paanong ang isang tao, na tanging sariling mga bisig ang gamit sa paglangoy, ay hindi makararating sa malayong pampang ng napakalawak na karagatan—gayon din, wala akong nakikitang wakas sa dalamhating ito.”

समुद्रम्ocean
समुद्रम्:
Karma
TypeNoun
Rootसमुद्र
FormMasculine, Accusative, Singular
इवlike, as
इव:
TypeIndeclinable
Rootइव
महतःfrom the great (one); of the great
महतः:
Apadana
TypeAdjective
Rootमहत्
FormMasculine, Ablative/Genitive, Singular
भुजाभ्याम्with (his) two arms
भुजाभ्याम्:
Karana
TypeNoun
Rootभुजा
FormFeminine, Instrumental, Dual
प्रतरन्swimming across
प्रतरन्:
Karta
TypeVerb
Rootप्र-तॄ
Formशतृ (present active participle), Masculine, Nominative, Singular
नरःa man
नरः:
Karta
TypeNoun
Rootनर
FormMasculine, Nominative, Singular

धृतराष्ट उवाच

D
Dhṛtarāṣṭra
O
ocean (samudra/mahāsāgara)
A
arms (bhujā)

Educational Q&A

Sorrow can become boundless when fueled by attachment and the consequences of one’s choices; mere personal strength is insufficient to ‘cross’ it. The verse implies the need for right counsel, self-restraint, and dharmic responsibility rather than helpless lamentation.

Dhṛtarāṣṭra, hearing of the catastrophic events of the Kurukṣetra war, expresses that his grief feels like a vast ocean with no visible end, using the image of a man unable to swim across a great sea with only his arms.