Shloka 11
Arjuna’s Advance toward Bhīṣma; The Gāṇḍīva’s Signal and the Armies’ Convergence (भीष्माभिमुखगमनम् — गाण्डीवनिर्घोष-ध्वजवर्णनम्)
यत्राशोक समुत्क्षिप्ता रेणवो रथनेमिभि:,“विशोक! जहाँ रथके पहियोंसे ऊपर उड़ी हुई धूल बाणसमूहोंके साथ अन्तरिक्ष और दिगन्तमें फैल रही है, वहीं स्वयं राजा दुर्योधन कवच आदिसे सुसज्जित होकर युद्धके लिये खड़ा है
sañjaya uvāca | yatrāśoka samutkṣiptā reṇavo rathanemibhiḥ |
Sañjaya said: “O Aśoka (Dhṛtarāṣṭra), there—where the dust, flung up by the rims of chariot-wheels, rises and spreads through the sky and to the horizons, mingling with volleys of arrows—there King Duryodhana himself stands ready for battle, fully equipped with armor and war-gear.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the immediacy and inevitability of war’s consequences: leadership and ambition manifest not as abstract policy but as embodied presence on the battlefield. Sañjaya’s address ‘Aśoka’ to Dhṛtarāṣṭra also carries ethical irony—detachment from sorrow is impossible when one’s choices have set violence in motion.
Sañjaya describes the battlefield scene to Dhṛtarāṣṭra: dust rises from chariot wheels and fills the sky and horizons amid arrow volleys, and Duryodhana is depicted as personally standing armed and prepared to fight.