Shloka 7
Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Anxiety and Bhīṣma’s Theological Explanation of Pāṇḍava Invincibility
Book 6, Chapter 61
अनुमानेन संज्ञाभिननामगोत्रैश्व संयुगे । वर्तते च तथा युद्ध तत्र तत्र विशाम्पते,प्रजानाथ! उस रणक्षेत्रमें अनुमानसे, संकेतोंसे तथा नाम और गोत्रोंके उच्चारणसे अपने या पराये पक्षका निश्चय करके जहाँ-तहाँ युद्ध हो रहा था
anumānena saṃjñābhir nāma-gotraiś ca saṃyuge | vartate ca tathā yuddhaṃ tatra tatra viśāṃpate prajānātha ||
Sañjaya dit : «Ô seigneur du peuple, ô roi des hommes : sur ce champ de bataille, les combattants se reconnaissaient comme amis ou ennemis par déduction, par des signaux convenus, et en criant les noms et les lignées ; ainsi, en maints endroits, le combat se poursuivait de cette manière même.»
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a moral and practical tension of war: when combat becomes chaotic, identity is reduced to external markers—signals, names, and lineage—showing how easily human relations and ethical clarity can be strained in violence.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that the battle had become scattered and confusing; warriors were determining whether someone was on their side or the enemy’s by inference and by calling out identifying signals, names, and gotras, and fighting was breaking out in many places accordingly.