Shloka 39
द्रोणपर्व (अध्याय ११२) — कर्णभीमयोर्युद्धम्, दुर्योधनस्य रक्षणादेशः
Droṇa-parva 112: Karṇa–Bhīma Engagement and Duryodhana’s Protective Order
कश्मलाभिह्ठतो राजा चिन्तयामास पाण्डव: । न नूनं स्वस्ति पार्थाय यथा नदति शड्खराट्
kaśmalābhiṣṭhato rājā cintayāmāsa pāṇḍavaḥ | na nūnaṃ svasti pārthāya yathā nadati śaṅkharāṭ ||
Sañjaya said: Overcome by bewilderment and distress, the Pāṇḍava king fell into anxious reflection. “Surely all is not well for Pārtha,” he thought, “for the lordly conch does not resound as it should.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how leaders read signs and bear responsibility: Yudhiṣṭhira’s concern for Arjuna shows vigilance and moral anxiety in war, where even small disruptions (like a conch not sounding) are taken as warnings about dharma, duty, and the welfare of one’s allies.
Sañjaya reports that the Pāṇḍava king is seized by distress and begins to worry that Arjuna may be in danger, inferring this from an ominous detail: the great conch, expected to roar in the battle context, is not sounding as it normally would.