Shloka 5
तेषां च पार्थस्य च मारिषासीद् देहासुपापक्षपणं सुयुद्धम् । त्रैलोक्यहेतोरसुरैर्यथा55सीद् देवस्य विष्णोर्जयतां वरस्य
teṣāṁ ca pārthasya ca māriṣāsīd dehāsu-pāpa-kṣapaṇaṁ su-yuddham | trailokya-hetor asurair yathāsīd devasya viṣṇor jayatāṁ varasya ||
Sañjaya said: Then there arose, O venerable one, a fierce and noble battle between those warriors and Pārtha (Arjuna)—a combat that brought the destruction of bodies and lives and served as an expiation of sins. It was like the war once waged by the god Viṣṇu, best among the victorious, against the Asuras for the sake of the sovereignty of the three worlds.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames righteous warfare as both a kṣatriya obligation and a moral reckoning: the battle is portrayed as 'pāpa-kṣapaṇa' (sin-destroying/expiatory), and Arjuna’s struggle is elevated by comparison to Viṣṇu’s cosmic fight to uphold order across the three worlds.
Sañjaya reports that a dreadful, decisive clash begins between Arjuna and the opposing warriors. The intensity is likened to Viṣṇu’s ancient conflict with the Asuras for dominion over the three worlds, emphasizing the scale and gravity of the encounter.