Shloka 11
नदन्ति नाद्य तूर्याणि मड़ल्यानि जनार्दन | मिश्रा दुन्दुभिनिर्घोषै: शड्खाश्चाडम्बरै: सह,“जनार्दन! आज इस शिविरमें मांगलिक बाजे नहीं बज रहे हैं। दुन्दुभिनाद तथा तुरहीके शब्दोंके साथ मिली हुई शंखध्वनि भी नहीं सुनायी देती है
na danti nādya tūryāṇi maṅgalyāni janārdana | miśrā dundubhi-nirghoṣaiḥ śaṅkhāś cāḍambaraiḥ saha ||
Arjuna said: “O Janārdana, today in this camp the auspicious instruments are not sounding. Nor is the conch-blast heard—mingled with the booming of kettledrums and the calls of trumpets—together with festive fanfare.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how external signs—music, conches, drums, and public celebration—mirror inner moral and psychological states. In epic ethics, the loss of auspicious sound in a war-camp functions as an omen: confidence and righteous momentum have waned, and anxiety or impending defeat is sensed.
Sañjaya reports to Janārdana (Kṛṣṇa) that the camp is unusually quiet: the customary auspicious instruments, conches, drums, and festive fanfare are absent. This signals a shift in the battlefield atmosphere toward fear, uncertainty, and foreboding.