सादिनः सादिभिः सार्धं प्रासशक्त्यृष्टिपाणयः ॥
समागच्छन् महाराज विनदन्तः पृथक् पृथक् ॥
नरास् तु बहवस् तत्र समाजग्मुः परस्परम् ॥
गदाभिर् मुसलैश् चैव नानाशस्त्रैश् च संघशः ॥
कृतवर्मा तु हार्दिक्यो धर्मपुत्रं युधिष्ठिरम् ॥
वारयाम् आस संक्रुद्धो वेलेवोद्वृत्तम् अर्णवम् ॥
युधिष्ठिरस् तु हार्दिक्यं विद्ध्वा पञ्चभिर् आशुगैः ॥
पुनर् विव्याध विंशत्या तिष्ठ तिष्ठेति चाब्रवीत् ॥
sādinaḥ sādibhiḥ sārdhaṃ prāsaśaktyṛṣṭipāṇayaḥ ||
samāgacchan mahārāja vinadantaḥ pṛthak pṛthak ||
narās tu bahavas tatra samājagmuḥ parasparam ||
gadābhir musalaiś caiva nānāśastraiś ca saṃghaśaḥ ||
kṛtavarmā tu hārdikyo dharmaputraṃ yudhiṣṭhiram ||
vārayām āsa saṃkruddho velevodvṛttam arṇavam ||
yudhiṣṭhiras tu hārdikyaṃ viddhvā pañcabhir āśugaiḥ ||
punar vivyādha viṃśatyā tiṣṭha tiṣṭheti cābravīt ||
Horsemen together with horsemen, with lances, javelins, and swords in hand, met, O great king, each shouting his own cry. And many men there met one another with maces and clubs and with every kind of weapon — in throngs. And Kritavarman, son of Hridika, restrained the son of Dharma, Yudhishthira, enraged, as the shore restrains the surging ocean. And Yudhishthira, having pierced the son of Hridika with five swift arrows, pierced him again with twenty and cried out, "Stay, stay!"
ffe1779e5825 · published Jul 19, 2026, 4:40:46 PM UTC
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Kritavarman holds Yudhishthira back "as the shore holds the surging ocean": the image of a limit that tames the immeasurable. It is telling that even the righteous king, rushing toward Drona, meets his own boundary — not every surge is granted to break through. The verse teaches that even a good striving knows its appointed limit: as the shore holds the sea, so an opposing force holds back the onrush; and wisdom lies not in sweeping away every barrier, but in recognizing where one's own force is stopped.