Shloka 19
भीष्मस्य मध्याह्नयुद्धवर्णनम् / Mid-day Battle Description: Bhīṣma Engaged by the Pāñcālas
शेषास्त्वन्ये महाराज शेषानेव महारथान् । ततः प्रववृते युद्ध घोररूपं भयावहम्,महाराज! शेष अन्य महारथियोंने शत्रुपक्षके शेष महारथियोंपर आक्रमण किया। फिर तो उनमें घोर एवं भयंकर युद्ध आरम्भ हुआ
śeṣās tv anye mahārāja śeṣān eva mahārathān | tataḥ pravavṛte yuddhaṃ ghorarūpaṃ bhayāvaham, mahārāja ||
Sañjaya said: “O great king, the remaining warriors then fell upon the remaining great chariot-fighters of the opposing side. Thereupon a battle began in full force—terrible in form and fraught with fear.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the momentum of war: once hostilities escalate, even the ‘remaining’ elite fighters are drawn into a fearsome cycle of violence. Ethically, it hints at the Mahābhārata’s recurring warning that conflict, once unleashed, tends to intensify beyond control, producing widespread fear and suffering.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that the surviving great chariot-warriors on each side now clash directly. This marks an intensification of the Kurukṣetra fighting into a particularly dreadful and terrifying phase.