धनुर्द्वितयमात्रात्मशून्यमध्यैकसेतुना । विभक्तं कल्पवातेन मत्तमेकार्णवं यथा ॥ १० ॥
dhanurdvitayamātrātmaśūnyamadhyaikasētunā | vibhaktaṁ kalpavātēna mattamēkārṇavaṁ yathā || 10 ||
Translation
divided by a single bridge, the empty middle no wider than two bow-lengths: like the one ocean at the end of an age, raging, cleft in two by the wind of that ending;
Word by word
- dhanur
- (dhanuḥ) bow-lengths
- dvitaya
- two
- mātra
- no wider than
- ātma
- whose extent is
- śūnya
- the empty
- madhya
- middle
- ēka
- by a single
- sētunā
- bridge
- vibhaktaṁ
- divided
- kalpa
- at the end of an age
- vātēna
- by the wind
- mattam
- raging
- ēkārṇavaṁ
- the one ocean
- yathā
- like
Meaning
Between the two armies is a strip of empty ground, only two bow-lengths wide, the one "bridge" that both divides them and joins them. The image: at the end of an age the whole world is one ocean, and a great wind could split it in two. So these two hosts are one sea of men, held apart by a narrow strip.