Shloka 196
उद्देशेन हि तेन सम समयुध्यन्त पार्थिवा: । राजन! वे शत्रुसैनिक तथा हमलोग आपसमें कोई किसीको पहचान नहीं पाते थे। इसलिये नाम बतानेसे ही राजालोग एक-दूसरेके साथ युद्ध करते थे
uddeśena hi tena sama-samāyudhyanta pārthivāḥ | rājan! te śatru-sainikāḥ tathā vayam ātmanaḥ parasparaṃ na kaṃcid api pratyabhijānīmaḥ | tasmān nāma-nivedanenaiva rājānaḥ parasparaṃ saha yuddham akurvan |
サンジャヤは言った。「大王よ、かの取り決められた合図によって、諸王は互角の条件で戦った。戦場の押し合いへし合いの中では、敵兵と我らとは互いにまったく見分けがつかなかった。ゆえに諸侯は名乗りを上げてからこそ相まみえ—戦の混乱のただ中にも、わずかな秩序と責めの所在を保たせたのである。」
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even amid violent conflict, the narrative highlights a concern for regulated combat: recognition and naming serve as a minimal ethical restraint, preserving accountability and reducing indiscriminate killing in the chaos of war.
Sanjaya reports to King Dhritarashtra that the battlefield had become so confused that fighters could not recognize friend or foe; therefore kings announced their names and then fought each other according to an agreed signal or arrangement.