संजय उवाच
तथा तेषु निवृत्तेषु प्रत्युद्यातेषु भागशः ॥
स्वयम् अभ्यद्रवद् भीमं नागानीकेन ते सुतः ॥
स नाग इव नागेन गोवृषेणेव गोवृषः ॥
समाहूतः स्वयं राज्ञा नागानीकम् उपाद्रवत् ॥
स युद्धकुशलः पार्थो बाहुवीर्येण चान्वितः ॥
अभिनत् कुञ्जरानीकम् अचिरेणैव मारिष ॥
saṃjaya uvāca
tathā teṣu nivṛtteṣu pratyudyāteṣu bhāgaśaḥ ||
svayam abhyadravad bhīmaṃ nāgānīkena te sutaḥ ||
sa nāga iva nāgena govṛṣeṇeva govṛṣaḥ ||
samāhūtaḥ svayaṃ rājñā nāgānīkam upādravat ||
sa yuddhakuśalaḥ pārtho bāhuvīryeṇa cānvitaḥ ||
abhinat kuñjarānīkam acireṇaiva māriṣa ||
When those [warriors] turned to battle, advancing to meet each other separately, your son himself rushed at Bhima with the elephant corps. He, like an elephant against an elephant, like a bull against a bull, challenged by the king himself [to battle], charged the elephant corps. That Partha-Bhima, skilled in battle and endowed with the might of arms, soon shattered the elephant host, O worthy one.
78cbdb200ce6 · published Jul 19, 2026, 3:11:21 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Bhima meets the elephant corps "like an elephant against an elephant, like a bull against a bull" — one man set against an entire array of giants, and himself likened to them in might. In this image lies the measure of his strength: he does not yield to the mass of elephants, for elephantine hardihood dwells in himself. It is telling that tradition joins in him skill and bodily strength: "skilled in battle and endowed with the might of arms." The verse teaches that true strength is the union of skill and hardihood — strength alone without skill is blind, skill alone without strength is powerless; that one man in whom both gifts are joined can shatter an entire host; and that Bhima's greatness lies in this fullness, which makes him equal not to a single warrior but to an entire corps of elephants.