Mahabharata — Virata Parva, Shloka 7
Adhyāya 61: Saṃmohana-astra and the Kuru Withdrawal (संमोहनास्त्रं तथा कुरुनिवृत्तिः)
अदृष्टपूर्व: शूराणां मया संख्ये समागम: । गदापातेन महता शड्खानां निःस्वनेन च
adṛṣṭapūrvaḥ śūrāṇāṃ mayā saṅkhye samāgamaḥ | gadāpātena mahatā śaṅkhānāṃ niḥsvanena ca |
বৈশম্পায়ন বললেন—যুদ্ধে এমন বীরসমাবেশ আমি আগে কখনও দেখিনি। গদার মহাঘাত ও শঙ্খের ভয়ংকর ধ্বনিতে আমার মন আচ্ছন্ন হয়ে উঠেছে।
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the overwhelming power of collective valor and martial resolve: when many heroes converge, the sensory signs of war (weapon impacts and conch-calls) become symbols of intensified kṣatriya duty and the grave momentum of conflict.
The narrator Vaiśampāyana describes witnessing an unprecedented concentration of warriors on the battlefield, emphasizing the thunderous mace-strikes and the terrifying reverberation of conches that signal the battle’s escalation.