Mahabharata — Virata Parva, Shloka 7
Adhyāya 61: Saṃmohana-astra and the Kuru Withdrawal (संमोहनास्त्रं तथा कुरुनिवृत्तिः)
अदृष्टपूर्व: शूराणां मया संख्ये समागम: । गदापातेन महता शड्खानां निःस्वनेन च
adṛṣṭapūrvaḥ śūrāṇāṃ mayā saṅkhye samāgamaḥ | gadāpātena mahatā śaṅkhānāṃ niḥsvanena ca |
ヴァイシャンパーヤナは言った。「これほど多くの勇士が戦場に集うのを、わたしはかつて見たことがない。大槌の重打と法螺貝の恐るべき轟きに、心は圧倒される――戦場が勇気と決意、そして戦の猛き奔流で満ちたしるしである。」
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the overwhelming power of collective valor and martial resolve: when many heroes converge, the sensory signs of war (weapon impacts and conch-calls) become symbols of intensified kṣatriya duty and the grave momentum of conflict.
The narrator Vaiśampāyana describes witnessing an unprecedented concentration of warriors on the battlefield, emphasizing the thunderous mace-strikes and the terrifying reverberation of conches that signal the battle’s escalation.