Shloka 14
भीष्मभीमसमागमः — Bhīṣma–Bhīma Strategic Engagement and Counsel to the King
अश्ववन्दैर्महद्धिश्च ऋष्टितोमरधारिभि: । नागे नागे रथा: सप्त सप्त चाश्वा रथे रथे
aśvavandair mahaddhiś ca ṛṣṭitomaradhāribhiḥ | nāge nāge rathāḥ sapta sapta cāśvā rathe rathe ||
Sañjaya said: “There were great multitudes of horsemen, and warriors bearing spears and javelins. Upon each elephant were seven chariots, and on each chariot there were seven horses.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
This verse is primarily descriptive rather than didactic: it underscores the immense scale and disciplined arrangement of martial forces. In the Mahābhārata’s ethical frame, such descriptions heighten the gravity of war—showing how vast resources and lives are marshalled, thereby intensifying the responsibility (dharma) of leaders whose choices unleash such destruction.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra the battlefield’s formidable deployment—cavalry and weapon-bearers in great numbers, and a strikingly dense arrangement involving elephants, chariots, and horses—conveying the magnitude and readiness of the armies in the Bhīṣma Parva context.