Shloka 60
पाञज्चजन्यस्थ निर्घोषो देवदत्तस्थ चोभयो: । पृथिवीं चान्तरिक्षं च दिशश्वैवान्चनादयत्,पांचजन्य तथा देवदत्त दोनों शंखोंकी गम्भीर ध्वनिने पृथ्वी, आकाश तथा सम्पूर्ण दिशाओंको प्रतिध्वनित कर दिया
pāñcajanyastha nirghoṣo devadattastha cobhayoḥ | pṛthivīṃ cāntarikṣaṃ ca diśaś caivāncanādayat ||
Śalya said: “The deep, rolling roar of both conches—Pāñcajanya and Devadatta—resounded so powerfully that it made the earth, the sky, and all the directions echo.” In the war’s moral atmosphere, this sound functions as a public proclamation of resolve and a psychological challenge, announcing the presence and confidence of the opposing side.
शल्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how symbolic acts in a dharma-yuddha—like sounding conches—serve ethical and psychological functions: they declare steadfastness, rally allies, and test the opponent’s courage without direct violence, framing battle as a contest of resolve as well as arms.
Śalya describes the thunderous blast of Kṛṣṇa’s Pāñcajanya and Arjuna’s Devadatta. Their combined sound reverberates through earth, sky, and all directions, signaling the Pandava side’s presence and intensifying the battlefield atmosphere.