Shloka 30
भीष्मसेनासंनिवेशः — Bhīṣma’s Mobilization, Omens, and the Kaurava Array
शतं रथसहस्राणां तस्यासन् वशवर्तिन: । अष्टौ नागसहस्राणि सादिनामयुतानि षट्,उनके अधीन एक लाख रथ, आठ हजार हाथी और साठ हजार घुड़सवार थे
śataṁ rathasahasrāṇāṁ tasyāsan vaśavartinaḥ | aṣṭau nāgasahasrāṇi sādinām ayutāni ṣaṭ ||
Sañjaya said: Under his command were a hundred thousand chariots, eight thousand elephants, and sixty thousand horsemen.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how immense military resources can be gathered under a single authority; in the Mahābhārata’s ethical frame, such power is morally neutral in itself and becomes meaningful only through the dharmic or adharmic purposes for which it is used.
Sañjaya is reporting to Dhṛtarāṣṭra the scale of forces under a particular leader’s command, listing chariots, elephants, and cavalry to convey the magnitude of the preparations and the looming intensity of the Kurukṣetra conflict.