Shloka 523
Śiva’s Battlefield Manifestation and Vyāsa’s Śatarudrīya Exposition (शिवप्रादुर्भावः शतरुद्रीयव्याख्यानम्)
यमौ च युयुधानश्च पाण्डवश्व वृकोदर: । तदनन्तर धृष्टद्युम्न, शिखण्डी, नकुल, सहदेव, सात्यकि तथा पाण्डुपुत्र भीमसेनने भी अपने महान् शंखको बजाया
sañjaya uvāca | yamau ca yuyudhānaś ca pāṇḍavaś ca vṛkodaraḥ | tadanantaraṃ dhṛṣṭadyumnaḥ śikhaṇḍī nakulaḥ sahadevaḥ sātyaki tathā pāṇḍuputro bhīmasenaś ca svān mahāśaṅkhān abhinanādayan |
सञ्जय उवाच—यमौ च युयुधानश्च पाण्डवश्च वृकोदरः। तदनन्तरं धृष्टद्युम्नः शिखण्डी नकुलः सहदेवः सात्यकिश्च पाण्डुपुत्रो भीमसेनश्च महाशङ्खान् प्रादध्मुः॥
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how collective signals—like blowing conches—serve a dharmic function in war: they declare readiness, unify allies, and strengthen courage. Even amid violence, the epic frames the battlefield as a sphere where duty, discipline, and steadfastness are publicly affirmed.
Sanjaya reports that key Pāṇḍava warriors—Bhīma, the twins Nakula and Sahadeva, Sātyaki (Yuyudhāna), along with Dhṛṣṭadyumna and Śikhaṇḍī—sound their great conches in sequence, creating a loud martial proclamation as the battle formation and engagement proceed.