Shloka 21
भीमसेनस्य प्रतिघातः—भगदत्तगजप्रहारः—घटोत्कचमायायुद्धम्
Bhīma’s Counteroffensive, Bhagadatta’s Elephant Assault, and Ghaṭotkaca’s Māyā Engagement
धावतां च रथौघानां निघ्नतां च पृथक् पृथक्
dhāvatāṁ ca rathaughānāṁ nighnatāṁ ca pṛthak pṛthak, bhārata!
桑阇耶说道：“婆罗多啊，当成群战车奔突而前，又在各处零散交锋中彼此击杀时，喧嚣愈发骇人——与战鼓的轰鸣交织，更添凶厉。在你诸子与般度五子的惨烈大战中，勇士们以击还击、以创还创的可怖声浪弥漫长空。”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse is primarily descriptive rather than doctrinal: it underscores the overwhelming, impersonal momentum of war—hosts in motion, scattered clashes, and a sky-filling roar. Ethically, it hints at the gravity of collective violence: once battle is unleashed, individual valor becomes part of a larger, terrifying machinery whose consequences exceed any single warrior’s intent.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra the intensifying combat: chariot formations charge, collide, and fight in dispersed one-on-one or small-group engagements. The noise of impacts and counter-impacts, amplified by war-drums, becomes so fierce that it seems to pervade the heavens—signaling the full escalation of the Kaurava–Pāṇḍava battle.