Shloka 2
गौरुडव्यूह-रचना तथा अर्धचन्द्र-प्रत्यव्यूह
Garuḍa Array and the Ardhacandra Counter-Formation
भीष्म: शान्तनव: कि वा तन्ममाचक्ष्व पृच्छत: । धृतराष्ट्रने पूछा--संजय! इस प्रकार महान् धनुर्धर श्वेतके शल्यके रथके समीप पहुँचनेपर कौरवों तथा पाण्डवोंने क्या किया? अथवा शान्तनुनन्दन भीष्मने कौन-सा पुरुषार्थ किया? मेरे पूछनेके अनुसार ये सब बातें मुझसे कहो || १ है ।।
sañjaya uvāca | rājan śatasahasrāṇi tataḥ kṣatriyapuṅgavāḥ, jighāṃsantaṃ yudhāṃ śreṣṭha tadā āsīt tumulaṃ mahat |
Sinabi ni Sañjaya: “O Hari, noon ay sumugod ang daan-daang libong pangunahing mandirigmang Kshatriya. Taglay ang hangaring patayin ang pinakamahusay na mandirigma, ang labanan ay naging napakalawak at magulo—isang paglala na hinubog ng batas ng mandirigma: ipagtanggol ang sariling panig at ibagsak ang pinakamabigat na banta sa larangan.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the battlefield ethic of kṣatriya-dharma: warriors rally in vast numbers when a decisive threat must be checked. It frames violence not as random cruelty but as a duty-bound response within the war code—protecting one’s side and confronting the strongest opponent, even at the cost of intensifying chaos.
Sanjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that the fighting swells dramatically: innumerable elite Kshatriyas rush forward with the intent to kill the foremost warrior on the opposing side, and the clash becomes a great, roaring tumult.