Shloka 30
Bhīṣma-nipāta-saṃvāda — Sañjaya’s Report of Bhīṣma’s Fall (भीष्मनिपातसंवादः)
गदासिमकरावासं हयावर्त गजाकुलम् | पदातिमत्स्यकलिलं शड्खदुन्दुभिनि:स्वनम्,गदा और खड़्ग आदि ही उसमें मगरके समान थे। वह अश्वरूपी भँवरोंसे भयावह प्रतीत होता था, उसमें हाथी जलहस्तीके समान प्रतीत होते थे, पैदल सेना उसमें भरे हुए मत्स्योंके समान जान पड़ती थी तथा शंख और दुन्दुभियोंकी ध्वनि ही उस समुद्रकी गर्जना थी
dhṛtarāṣṭra uvāca | gadāsimakarāvāsaṃ hayāvarta-gajākulam | padāti-matsya-kalilaṃ śaṅkha-dundubhi-niḥsvanam ||
持国王说道：“那战场宛如一片大海，钉头锤与利剑化作其中鳄鱼。马群形成的漩涡令人胆寒；象群如巨大的水象般充塞其间；步兵则似密集鱼群。海螺的号鸣与战鼓的轰响，便是那海的咆哮。”
धृतराष्ट उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse does not give a direct moral injunction; it intensifies the ethical gravity of war by portraying the battlefield as a perilous ocean. The imagery underscores how weapons and armies become forces of destruction, inviting reflection on the cost of adharma-driven conflict and the fearful momentum of violence once unleashed.
Dhṛtarāṣṭra, hearing Sañjaya’s account, describes (or echoes the description of) the Kurukṣetra scene through a sustained ocean-simile: weapons are sea-monsters, cavalry are whirlpools, elephants are aquatic giants, infantry are shoals of fish, and the conches and drums form the ocean’s roar—conveying the vast, chaotic, and terrifying onset of battle.