Shloka 7
कुण्जरांश्व हयांश्वैव पादातां श्व समन्ततः । उवाच सहितानू् सर्वान् धार्तराष्ट्र इदं वच:
kuñjarānś ca hayānś caiva pādātāṃś ca samantataḥ | uvāca sahitān sarvān dhārtarāṣṭra idaṃ vacaḥ ||
Sañjaya said: Then Dhṛtarāṣṭra addressed all those assembled on every side—elephants, horses, and the foot-soldiers—speaking these words. In the charged moral atmosphere of war, the king’s address signals an attempt to direct and steady his forces, even as the conflict tests duty, loyalty, and restraint.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even in warfare, leadership is shown through deliberate speech and the ordering of one’s forces; the verse frames how words and command shape collective action, raising implicit ethical questions about responsibility for violence and the proper exercise of authority.
Sañjaya reports that Dhṛtarāṣṭra speaks to the assembled military—elephants, horses, and infantry—indicating a formal address to the gathered troops as events in the Shalya Parva unfold.