Shloka 21
भीमसेनस्य प्रतिघातः—भगदत्तगजप्रहारः—घटोत्कचमायायुद्धम्
Bhīma’s Counteroffensive, Bhagadatta’s Elephant Assault, and Ghaṭotkaca’s Māyā Engagement
धावतां च रथौघानां निघ्नतां च पृथक् पृथक्
dhāvatāṁ ca rathaughānāṁ nighnatāṁ ca pṛthak pṛthak, bhārata!
संजय बोले—हे भारत! दौड़ते हुए रथसमूहों के और पृथक्-पृथक् प्रहार करते हुए योद्धाओं के कोलाहल में, दुन्दुभियों की गर्जना मिलकर शब्द और भी भयंकर हो उठा। आपके पुत्रों और पाण्डवों के घोर संग्राम में परस्पर आघात-प्रत्याघात करने वाले नरवीरों का भयावह नाद आकाश में व्याप्त हो गया।
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse is primarily descriptive rather than doctrinal: it underscores the overwhelming, impersonal momentum of war—hosts in motion, scattered clashes, and a sky-filling roar. Ethically, it hints at the gravity of collective violence: once battle is unleashed, individual valor becomes part of a larger, terrifying machinery whose consequences exceed any single warrior’s intent.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra the intensifying combat: chariot formations charge, collide, and fight in dispersed one-on-one or small-group engagements. The noise of impacts and counter-impacts, amplified by war-drums, becomes so fierce that it seems to pervade the heavens—signaling the full escalation of the Kaurava–Pāṇḍava battle.