Shloka 38
तेषां दश सहस्राणि रथानामनुयायिनाम् । अभीषाहा: शूरसेना: शिबयो5थ वसातय:,इनके पीछे दस हजार रथी, अभीषाह, शूरसेन, शिबि, वसाति, मावेल्लक, ललित्थ, केकय, मद्रक, नारायण नामक गोपालगण तथा काम्बोजदेशीय सैनिकगण भी थे। इन सबको पूर्वकालमें कर्णने रणभूमिमें जीतकर अपने अधीन कर लिया था। ये सब-के-सब शूरवीरोंद्वारा सम्मानित योद्धा थे और प्रसन्नचित्त हो द्रोणाचार्यको आगे करके अर्जुनपर चढ़ आये थे
teṣāṃ daśa sahasrāṇi rathānām anuyāyinām | abhīṣāhāḥ śūrasenāḥ śibayo 'tha vasātayaḥ ||
Sañjaya said: Following them came ten thousand chariot-warriors and their attendants—fighters of the Abhīṣāha clan, the Śūrasenas, the Śibis, and the Vasātayas. In the ethical atmosphere of the war, this catalogue of allied forces underscores how earlier conquests and political subjugation now feed the momentum of battle: many peoples, once brought under Karṇa’s sway, now advance in disciplined formation, placing Droṇa at their head as they surge against Arjuna.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how power and prior conquest create binding networks of obligation in war: many groups fight not only from personal conviction but due to political subordination and alliance. Ethically, it points to the Mahābhārata’s recurring tension between individual dharma and the collective machinery of conflict.
Sañjaya lists additional allied contingents—ten thousand chariot-followers from several peoples—joining the Kaurava-side advance. They move forward in formation with Droṇa placed at the front, pressing an attack toward Arjuna.