Shloka 276
नानावादित्रशब्देन पाण्डुसेनामयोधयन् । तब आपके सैनिक नाना प्रकारके अस्त्र-शस्त्र लेकर भाँति-भाँतिके रणवाद्योंकी गम्भीर ध्वनिके साथ पाण्डव-सेनासे युद्ध करने लगे
nānāvāditraśabdena pāṇḍusenām ayodhayat |
Sañjaya said: With the clamour of many kinds of war-instruments, the troops set upon the Pāṇḍava army and began to fight—arms raised, weapons in hand—while the deep, varied sounds of the battlefield signalled the full onset of war and the hardening of hearts that such conflict demands.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how war is not only fought with weapons but also driven by collective momentum—signals, sounds, and spectacle that intensify aggression. Ethically, it underscores the Mahābhārata’s recurring tension: kṣatriya duty to fight versus the tragic, dehumanizing force of battle once it is unleashed.
Sañjaya reports that the forces, accompanied by the loud, varied sounds of battlefield instruments, advance against and engage the Pāṇḍava army. It is a scene-setting line that conveys the beginning or intensification of combat through the auditory imagery of war.