Shloka 223
Droṇa Encircled at Night: Coalition Advance and Battlefield Omens (द्रोणपर्यावरणं रात्रियुद्धवर्णनम्)
कुरुभिरययुध्यते सार्थ सर्वैश्वक्रगदाधर: । “भीम! देखो, यह वृष्णिवंशके प्रमुख वीर भगवान् श्रीकृष्णने बड़े जोरसे शंख बजाया है। यह शंखराज इस समय पृथ्वी और आकाश दोनोंको अपनी ध्वनिसे परिपूर्ण किये देता है। निश्चय ही सव्यसाची अर्जुनके भारी संकटमें पड़ जानेपर चक्र और गदा धारण करनेवाले भगवान् श्रीकृष्ण समस्त कौरवोंके साथ युद्ध कर रहे हैं
sañjaya uvāca |
kurubhir ayayudhyate sārthaḥ sarvaiś cakragadādharaḥ |
Sañjaya said: The wielder of discus and mace—Śrī Kṛṣṇa, foremost hero of the Vṛṣṇis—has blown his conch with great force, filling earth and sky with its reverberation. Seeing Arjuna (Savyasācī) pressed into grave peril, the Lord who bears the discus and mace is now, in earnest, engaging in battle against all the Kauravas together—signaling that when righteousness and a devotee’s protection are at stake, even the divine charioteer may step beyond restraint to uphold dharma.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
When dharma is threatened and a righteous person faces extreme danger, protective action becomes paramount; Kṛṣṇa’s conch-call and readiness to fight symbolize the moral urgency to defend justice and the devotee, even at the cost of breaking ordinary restraint.
Sañjaya reports that Kṛṣṇa, identified by his divine weapons (discus and mace), has sounded his conch so powerfully that it fills earth and sky, and—seeing Arjuna in severe peril—moves to confront the Kaurava host directly.