Shloka 33
अभिपेतुर्निषादा श्ष सौवीराश्न॒ महारणे | बाह्लीका दरदाश्रैव प्रतीच्योदीच्यमालवा:
abhipeturniṣādāś ca sauvīrāś ca mahāraṇe | bāhlīkā daradāś caiva pratīcyodīcyamālavāḥ ||
Sañjaya said: “In that great battle, the Niṣādas and the Sauvīras charged forward; the Bāhlīkas and the Daradas as well, along with the Mālavas from the western and northern regions.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the vast scope of the Kurukṣetra war: many peoples from different regions become participants in a single conflict. Ethically, it points to how political ambition and contested claims of dharma can draw entire communities into violence, expanding the consequences far beyond the principal rivals.
Sañjaya is listing contingents who surge into the fighting—Niṣādas, Sauvīras, Bāhlīkas, Daradas, and Mālavas from western and northern areas—emphasizing the scale and diversity of forces engaged in the battle.