तौ नखैर् इव शार्दूलौ दन्तैर् इव महाद्विपौ ॥
रथशक्तिभिर् अन्योन्यं विशिखैश् चाप्य् अकृन्तताम् ॥
निर्भिदन्तौ हि गात्राणि विक्षरन्तौ च शोणितम् ॥
व्यष्टम्भयेताम् अन्योन्यं प्राणद्यूताभिदेविनौ ॥
एवम् उत्तमकर्माणौ कुरुवृष्णियशस्करौ ॥
परस्परम् अयुध्येतां वारणाव् इव यूथपौ ॥
tau nakhair iva śārdūlau dantair iva mahādvipau ||
rathaśaktibhir anyonyaṃ viśikhaiś cāpy akṛntatām ||
nirbhidantau hi gātrāṇi vikṣarantau ca śoṇitam ||
vyaṣṭambhayetām anyonyaṃ prāṇadyūtābhidevinau ||
evam uttamakarmāṇau kuruvṛṣṇiyaśaskarau ||
parasparam ayudhyetāṃ vāraṇāv iva yūthapau ||
Those two, like tigers with their claws, like great elephants with their tusks, rent each other with chariot-spears and with arrows. Piercing each other's bodies and shedding blood, they held each other back, playing, having staked their lives. Thus, men of exalted deeds, makers of glory for the Kurus and the Vṛṣṇis, fought with each other like two elephant chieftains.
d68a172c6a63 · published Jul 19, 2026, 4:25:13 PM UTC
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The fight is called a "game where life is the stake" (prāṇa-dyūta): here there is no other wager but being itself. It is telling that the rivals are equal, like two elephant chieftains: neither surpasses the other. The verse teaches that in a clash of the worthy, each stakes life itself, and so such a battle is at once sacred and terrible; and valor that does not spare itself is the highest a man can offer for the honor of his line.