Shloka 14
Nakula’s Engagement with Citra-sena and Karṇa’s Sons; Śalya Re-stabilizes the Kaurava Host
वाजिनां खुरशब्देन रथनेमिस्वनेन च । पत्तीनां चापि शब्देन नागानां बूृंहितेन च
vājināṃ khuraśabdena rathanemisvanena ca | pattīnāṃ cāpi śabdena nāgānāṃ bṛṃhitena ca, bhārata! |
Sañjaya said: “O Bhārata, the earth seemed to resound as though struck by a thunderbolt—echoing with the clatter of horses’ hooves, the rumbling of chariot-wheels, the tumult of the foot-soldiers, and the trumpeting roars of the elephants.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse is primarily descriptive rather than didactic: it underscores the overwhelming scale and intensity of war, implicitly warning how collective violence drowns out discernment and peace—an ethical backdrop that frames the tragedy of fratricidal conflict.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra the sensory impact of the battlefield: the combined noises of cavalry, chariots, infantry, and elephants make the earth seem to thunder, conveying the ferocity and mass movement of the armies.