Shloka 57
Varuṇābhiṣeka–Agni-anveṣaṇa–Kaubera-tīrtha
Varuṇa’s Consecration; Search for Agni; Kaubera Sacred Site
नैर््नतों (भूतगणों)-की वह भयंकर सेना घंटा, भेरी, शंख और मृदंगकी ध्वनिसे गूँज रही थी। उसकी ऊँचे उठी हुई पताकाएँ फहरा रही थीं। अस्त्र-शस्त्रों और पताकाओंसे सम्पन्न वह विशाल वाहिनी नक्षत्रोंसे सुशोभित शरत्कालके आकाशकी भाँति शोभा पा रही थी।। ततो देवनिकायास्ते नानाभूतगणास्तथा । वादयामासुरव्यग्रा भेरी: शड्खांश्व पुष्कलान्,तदनन्तर वे देवसमूह तथा नाना प्रकारके भूतगण शान्तचित्त हो भेरी, बहुत-से शंख, पटह, झाँझ, क्रकच, गोशृंग, आडम्बर, गोमुख और भारी आवाज करनेवाले नगाड़े बजाने लगे
tato devanikāyās te nānābhūtagaṇās tathā | vādayāmāsur avyagrā bherīḥ śaṅkhāṃś ca puṣkalān ||
Vaiśaṃpāyana said: Thereupon those companies of the gods, along with diverse hosts of supernatural beings, unperturbed and intent, began to sound their instruments—kettledrums and many conches—filling the quarters with a formidable martial resonance. The scene evokes a cosmic muster: not merely human armies, but powers beyond the human sphere lending their presence to the war, intensifying its moral weight and inevitability.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores that the war is not only a human contest but a cosmic event witnessed and, in a sense, ratified by higher powers. The composed (avyagra) sounding of drums and conches by divine and supernatural hosts suggests inevitability and the solemn, ritualized gravity of dharma’s consequences unfolding on the battlefield.
After a preceding description of a terrifying, resounding army, the narration adds that hosts of gods and various supernatural beings begin playing war instruments—especially kettledrums and many conches—amplifying the battlefield’s roar and marking a climactic escalation in the atmosphere of Shalya Parva.