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 ||
وَیشَمپایَن نے کہا—سورماؤں کے شیریں نعرے، ہاتھیوں کی گرج اور گانڈیوا کی وہ ہولناک ٹنکار جو گویا بجلی کی طرح زمین پر گرتی ہے—ان کے بیچ، اے بہادر، میری سماعت اور یادداشت دونوں جاتی رہیں؛ میرا دل و دماغ سراسیمہ ہو گیا ہے۔
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.