Mahabharata — Virata Parva, Shloka 8
Adhyāya 61: Saṃmohana-astra and the Kuru Withdrawal (संमोहनास्त्रं तथा कुरुनिवृत्तिः)
सिंहनादैश्व शूराणां गजानां बृंहितैस्तथा । गाण्डीवशब्देन भूशमशनिप्रतिमेन च । श्रुति: स्मृतिश्च मे वीर प्रणष्टा मूढचेतस:
siṃhanādaiś ca śūrāṇāṃ gajānāṃ bṛṃhitais tathā | gāṇḍīvaśabdena bhūśam aśanipratimena ca | śrutiḥ smṛtiś ca me vīra praṇaṣṭā mūḍhacetasāḥ ||
ヴァイシャンパーヤナは言った。「勇士たちの獅子吼と象の喇叭の声のただ中で、さらに大地を打つ雷霆のごときガーンディーヴァの弦音が轟くとき、わが心は圧倒された。おお勇者よ、聴覚も、記憶さえも失せ、戦の恐怖と喧噪に思いは乱れ惑う。」
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how the sensory force of war—roars, trumpets, and the famed sound of Gāṇḍīva—can overwhelm even a person’s basic faculties (hearing and memory). Ethically, it underscores the human cost of battle: courage is praised, yet the chaos of violence can shatter composure and clarity, reminding readers that dharma in war demands steadiness of mind amid terror.
Vaiśaṃpāyana narrates the battlefield atmosphere: heroic lion-roars, elephants’ trumpeting, and the earth-shaking, thunderbolt-like twang of the Gāṇḍīva. The speaker within the scene (addressing a ‘hero’) confesses being mentally stunned—his hearing and memory seem to fail under the din and shock of combat.