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 ||
اس لشکر-سمندر کی بے کنار تیزی بھیشم ہے؛ درون آچاریہ اس میں گھات لگائے مگرمچھ کی مانند ہیں، اس لیے اس میں اترنا نہایت دشوار ہے؛ کرن اور شلیہ بڑی مچھلیوں اور بھنوروں کی طرح کام کرتے ہیں؛ اور کامبوج راجہ سودکشن اس میں وڈوانل—سمندر کے باطن کی آگ—کی مانند ہے۔
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.