Shloka 6
शल्यवधे कौरवसेनाभङ्गः, भीमस्य गदायुद्धं, दुर्योधनस्य समाह्वानम्
Rout after Śalya’s fall; Bhīma’s mace engagement; Duryodhana’s rally
मद्रराजप्रिये युक्तैर्मद्रकाणां महारथै: । आजगाम ततः: पार्थों गाण्डीवं विक्षिपन् धनु:
madrarājapriye yuktair madrakāṇāṁ mahārathaiḥ | ājagāma tataḥ pārtho gāṇḍīvaṁ vikṣipan dhanuḥ ||
Sañjaya said: Then Pārtha (Arjuna) advanced, accompanied by the great chariot-warriors of the Madras who were devoted to their king; as he came on, he brandished his bow Gāṇḍīva—signaling resolve and readiness in the face of the moral weight of battle.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights steadfastness in one’s appointed duty amid conflict: disciplined readiness (symbolized by Arjuna’s Gāṇḍīva) and the ethical seriousness of war, where loyalty and alliance must still be guided by dharma.
Sañjaya reports that Arjuna advances into the fray, accompanied by the Madra king’s favored/loyal great chariot-warriors, while Arjuna brandishes his famed bow Gāṇḍīva as a sign of imminent engagement.