Shloka 21
Droṇa Encircled at Night: Coalition Advance and Battlefield Omens (द्रोणपर्यावरणं रात्रियुद्धवर्णनम्)
एष वृष्णिप्रवीरेण ध्मात: सलिलजो भृूशम्,कुरुभिरययुध्यते सार्थ सर्वैश्वक्रगदाधर: । “भीम! देखो, यह वृष्णिवंशके प्रमुख वीर भगवान् श्रीकृष्णने बड़े जोरसे शंख बजाया है। यह शंखराज इस समय पृथ्वी और आकाश दोनोंको अपनी ध्वनिसे परिपूर्ण किये देता है। निश्चय ही सव्यसाची अर्जुनके भारी संकटमें पड़ जानेपर चक्र और गदा धारण करनेवाले भगवान् श्रीकृष्ण समस्त कौरवोंके साथ युद्ध कर रहे हैं
eṣa vṛṣṇipravīreṇa dhmātaḥ salilajo bhṛśam, kurubhir ayudhyate sārthaḥ sarvaiś cakragadādharaḥ |
Sañjaya said: “Behold—this conch, born of the waters, has been blown with great force by the foremost hero of the Vṛṣṇis. Its mighty sound now fills both earth and sky. Surely, seeing Arjuna (the ambidextrous archer) pressed into grave peril, the Lord who bears the discus and the mace has entered the battle against all the Kurus.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
When righteousness and a just cause are threatened in extreme crisis, decisive protection and timely intervention become a duty. The verse frames Kṛṣṇa’s action—signaled by the conch’s thunder—as protective resolve in response to Arjuna’s peril, emphasizing guardianship of dharma even amid the chaos of war.
Sañjaya reports that Kṛṣṇa, the foremost Vṛṣṇi hero, blows a powerful sea-born conch whose sound fills earth and sky. Interpreting this as a response to Arjuna’s grave danger, Sañjaya states that Kṛṣṇa—identified by his weapons, discus and mace—has entered combat against the Kaurava forces.