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,भारत! धृष्टकेतुके साथ चेदि, काशी, करूष और पौरव आदि देशोंके सैनिक भी थे। धृष्टद्युम्न, शिखण्डी तथा पांचाल और प्रभद्रकगण उस विशाल सेनाके मध्यभागमें युद्धके लिये खड़े हुए। हाथियोंकी सेनासे घिरे हुए धर्मराज युधिष्ठिर भी वहीं थे
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 |
اے بھارت! اُس عظیم لشکر کے عین درمیان وہ جنگ کے لیے کھڑے تھے۔ وہیں دھرم راج یُدھِشٹھِر بھی ہاتھیوں کے دستے سے گھِرے ہوئے موجود تھے۔
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.