Shloka 55
महर्षयो वेदविद: पितरश्न स्वधाभुज: । तपोविद्यास्तथौषध्यो नानारूपबलान्विता:
maharṣayo vedavidaḥ pitaraś ca svadhābhujaḥ | tapovidyās tathauṣadhyo nānārūpabalānvitāḥ ||
Sañjaya dit : «Là se tenaient de grands ṛṣis, maîtres des Veda, ainsi que les Pitṛs—les Pères ancestraux—qui prennent part aux offrandes de svadhā. Avec eux se trouvaient aussi des puissances nées de l’austérité et du savoir sacré, et des herbes d’une vertu redoutable—pourvues de forces de maintes sortes.»
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores that beyond human armies, the Mahābhārata’s battlefield is framed as a morally charged arena witnessed and influenced by higher orders—seers, ancestral powers, austerity-born energies, and sacred efficacies—implying that actions in war are accountable to dharma, ritual order, and unseen forces.
Sañjaya is describing the presence or convergence of powerful beings and forces—ṛṣis, Vedic authorities, the Pitṛs who receive svadhā offerings, and various powers of tapas, knowledge, and potent herbs—suggesting an extraordinary, superhuman atmosphere surrounding the events being reported.