Shloka 16
ततो गाण्डीवनिर्घोषो महानासीद विशाम्पते । स्तनतां कूजतां चैव मनुष्यगजवाजिनाम्,प्रजानाथ! तदनन्तर गाण्डीव धनुषकी टंकारध्वनि बड़े जोर-जोरसे सुनायी देने लगी। साथ ही चिग्घाड़ते और आर्तनाद करते हुए मनुष्यों, हाथियों तथा घोड़ोंकी आवाज भी वहाँ गूँज उठी
tato gāṇḍīvanirghoṣo mahān āsīd viśāmpate | stanatāṁ kūjatāṁ caiva manuṣyagajavājinām ||
Sañjaya said: Then, O lord of the people, there arose the mighty reverberation of the Gāṇḍīva. Along with it resounded the cries—roaring and wailing—of men, elephants, and horses. The verse heightens the moral atmosphere of the battlefield: the famed bow’s thunder signals the surge of martial resolve, while the mixed animal and human lament underscores the terrible cost that war exacts from all living beings.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse juxtaposes heroic power (the thunder of Gāṇḍīva) with the universal distress of war (cries of men, elephants, and horses). It implicitly reminds the listener that even when battle is pursued as kṣatriya-duty, its consequences spread beyond warriors to all beings caught in the conflict.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that a tremendous sound arises—the famed twang/roar of Arjuna’s bow, Gāṇḍīva—followed by the tumult of the battlefield: roaring, cries, and lamentations from humans and the war-animals (elephants and horses).