Shloka 15
भीमसेनस्य प्रतिघातः—भगदत्तगजप्रहारः—घटोत्कचमायायुद्धम्
Bhīma’s Counteroffensive, Bhagadatta’s Elephant Assault, and Ghaṭotkaca’s Māyā Engagement
मध्ये सैन्यस्य महतः स्थिता युद्धाय भारत । तत्रैव धर्मराजो5पि गजानीकेन संवृतः
madhye sainyasya mahataḥ sthitā yuddhāya bhārata | tatraiva dharmarājo 'pi gajānīkena saṃvṛtaḥ | bhārata dhṛṣṭaketunā sārdhaṃ cedi-kāśi-karūṣa-pauravādīnāṃ deśānāṃ sainikā api āsan | dhṛṣṭadyumnaḥ śikhaṇḍī ca pāñcālāḥ prabhadrakagaṇāś ca tasya viśālasya sainyasya madhyabhāge yuddhāya samasthitāḥ | gajānīkena parivṛto dharmarājo yudhiṣṭhiraḥ api tatraiva āsīt |
Wika ni Sañjaya: Sa pinakagitna ng napakalaking hukbo, nakatindig ang mga mandirigma ng panig ng Pāṇḍava, handa sa digmaan. Naroon din si Dharmarāja Yudhiṣṭhira, pinangangalagaan at napaliligiran ng pormasyon ng mga elepante. Kasama ni Dhṛṣṭaketu ang mga kawal mula sa Cedi, Kāśi, Karūṣa, mga Paurava, at iba pang kaharian. Sina Dhṛṣṭadyumna, Śikhaṇḍin, ang mga Pāñcāla at Prabhadraka ay pumuwesto rin sa gitnang bahagi ng malaking hukbo, nakahandang sumabak—samantalang si Yudhiṣṭhira ay nanatili roon, binabantayan ng hukbong elepante.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even in the violence of war, the narrative highlights dharma through the figure of Yudhiṣṭhira: the righteous king is deliberately protected, suggesting that leadership grounded in ethical restraint is to be preserved amid chaos, and that force (elephant corps, formations) is to be ordered in service of a moral center.
Sañjaya describes the Pāṇḍava-aligned forces positioned in the center of a vast army at Kurukṣetra. Key commanders (Dhṛṣṭadyumna, Śikhaṇḍin) and allied contingents (Cedi, Kāśi, Karūṣa, Pauravas, etc.) stand ready, while Yudhiṣṭhira remains in the middle, surrounded and guarded by an elephant formation.