Shloka 2
द्रोणपर्व — अध्याय ९०: हार्दिक्यस्य पराक्रमः
Kṛtavarmā’s Stand against the Pāṇḍavas
अनीकानां च संह्वादे वादित्राणां च निःस्वने । प्रध्मापितेषु शड्खेषु संनादे लोमहर्षणे,संजय कहते हैं--आर्य! जब इस प्रकार कौरव-सेनाओंकी व्यूह-रचना हो गयी, युद्धके लिये उत्सुक सैनिक कोलाहल करने लगे, नगाड़े पीटे जाने लगे, मृदंग बजने लगे, सैनिकोंकी गर्जनाके साथ-साथ रणवाद्योंकी तुमुल ध्वनि फैलने लगी, शंख फूँके जाने लगे, रोमांचकारी शब्द गूँजने लगा और युद्धके इच्छुक भरतवंशी वीर जब कवच धारण करके धीरे-धीरे प्रहारके लिये उद्यत होने लगे, उस समय उग्र मुहूर्त आनेपर युद्धभूमिमें सव्यसाची अर्जुन दिखायी दिये
sañjaya uvāca | anīkānāṃ ca saṃhvāde vāditrāṇāṃ ca niḥsvane | pradhmāpiteṣu śaṅkheṣu saṃnāde lomaharṣaṇe ||
Sañjaya said: “O noble one, as the battle-formations pressed together and the tumult rose—amid the blare of war-instruments and their resounding din—when conches were being blown and a hair-raising roar spread across the field, the armies’ collective voice swelled into an overwhelming martial clamor, signaling the irreversible onset of combat.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds the moral gravity of war: before weapons strike, the collective roar of armies and instruments marks a threshold where intention hardens into action. It implicitly warns that once martial fervor and mass momentum surge, restraint becomes difficult—hence the ethical weight of decisions made before the clash.
Sañjaya describes the battlefield at the moment formations converge: instruments thunder, conches are blown, and a thrilling, fearsome uproar spreads. The scene sets the emotional and sensory intensity immediately preceding the engagement.