This Great Trial Of Arms
TEXT 12
तस्य सञ्जनयन्हर्षं कुरूवृध्दः पितामहः ।
सिंहनादं विनद्योच्चैः शङ्खं दघ्मौ प्रतापवान् ॥१२॥
TRANSLATION
"Then Bhisma, the great valiant grandsire of the Kuru dynasty, the grandfather of the fighters, blew his conchshell very loudly, making a sound like the roar of a lion, giving Duryodhana joy."
PURPORT
The grandsire of the Kuru dynasty could understand the inner meaning of the heart of his grandson Duryodhana, and out of his natural compassion for him he tried to cheer him by blowing his conchshell very loudly, befitting his position as a lion. Indirectly, by the symbolism of the conchshell, he informed his depressed grandson Duryodhana that he had no chance of victory in the battle, because the Supreme Lord Krsna was on the other side. But still, it was his duty to conduct the fight, and no pains would be spared in that connection.
TEXT 13
ततः शङ्खश्र्च भेर्यश्र्च पणवानकगोमुखाः ।
सहसैवाभ्यहन्यन्त स शब्दस्तुमुलोऽभवत् ॥१३॥
TRANSLATION
"After that, the conchshells, drums, bugles, trumpets and horns were all suddenly sounded, and the combined sound was tumultuous."
TEXT 14
ततः श्र्वेतैर्हयैर्युत्के महति स्यन्दने स्थितौ ।
माधवः पाण्डवश्र्चैव दिव्यौ शङ्खौ प्रदध्मतुः॥१४॥
TRANSLATION
"On the other side, both Lord Krsna and Arjuna, stationed on a great chariot drawn by white horses, sounded their transcendental conchshells."
PURPORT
In contrast with the conchshell blown by Bhismadeva, the conchshells in the hands of Krsna and Arjuna are described as transcendental. The sounding of the transcendental conchshells indicated that there was no hope of vistory for the other side because Krsna was on the side of the Pandavas.
Jayas tu pandu-putranam yesa pakse janardanah.
Victory is always with persons like the sons of Pandu because Lord Krsna is associated with them. And whenever and wherever the Lord is present, the goddess of fortune is also there because the goddess of fortune never lives alone without her husband. Therefore, victory and fortune were awaiting Arjuna, as indicated by the transcendental sound produced by the conchshell of Visnu, or Lord Krsna. Besides that, the chariot on which both te friends were seated had been donated by Agni (the fire-god) to Arjuna, and this indicated that this chariot was capable of conquering all sides, wherever it was drawn over the three worlds.
TEXT 15
पाञ्चजन्यं हृषीकेशो देवदत्तं धनञ्जयः ।
पौण्ड्रं दध्मौ महाशङ्खं भीमकर्मा वृकोदरः ॥१५॥
TRANSLATION
"Lord Krsna blew His conchshell, called Pancajanya; Arjuna blew his, the Devadatta; and Bhima, the voracious eater and performer of herculean tasks, blew his terrfic conchshell, called Paundra."
PURPORT
Lord Krsna is referred to as Hrsikesa in this verse because He is the owner of all senses. The living entities are part and parcel of Him, and therefore the senses of the living entities are also part and parcel of His senses. The impersonalists cannot account for the senses of the living entities as senseless, or impersonal.
The Lord, situated in the hearts of all living entities, directs their senses. But he directs in terms of the surrender of the living entity, and in the case of a pure devotee He directly controls the senses. Here on the Battlefield of Kuruksetra the Lord directly controls the transcendental senes of Arjuna, and thus His particular name of Hrsikesa.
The Lord has different names according to His different activities. For example, His name is Madhusudhana because He killed the demon of the name Madhu;
His name is Govinda because He gives pleasure to the cows and to the senses;
His name is Vasudeva because He appeared as the son of Vasudeva;
His name is Devaki-nandana because He accepted Devaki as His mother;
His name is Yasoda-nandana because He awarded His childhood pastimes to Yasoda at Vrndavana;
His name is Partha-sarathi because He worked as charioteer of His friend Arjuna.
Similarly, His name is Krsikesa because He gave direction to Arjuna on the Battlefield of Kuruksetra.
Arjuna is referred to as Dhananjaya in this verse because he helped his elder brother in fetching wealth when it was required by the king to make expenditures for different sacrifices. Similalrly, Bhima is known as Vrkodara because he could eat as voraciously as he could perform herculean tasks, such as killing the demon Hidimba.
So the particular types of conchshell blown by the different personalities on the side of the Pandavas, beginning with the Lord's, were all very encouraging to the fighting soldiers. On the other side there were no such credits, nor the presence of Lord Krsna, the supreme director, nor that of the goddess of fortune. So they were predestined to lose the battle-and that was the message announced by the sounds of the conchshells.
TEXT 16
अनन्तविजयं राजा कुन्तीपुत्रो युधिष्ठिरः ।
नकुलः सहदेवश्र्च सुघोषमणिपुष्पकौ ॥१६॥
TRANSLATION
"King Yudhisthira, the son of Kunti, blew his conchshell, the Ananta-vijaya, and Nakula and Sahadeva blew the Sughosa and Manipuspaka."
TEXT 17
काश्यश्र्च परमेष्वासः शिखण्डी च महारथः ।
धृष्टधुम्नो विराटश्र्च सात्यकिश्र्चापराजितः ॥१७॥
TRANSLATION
"That great archer the King of Kasi, the great fighter Sikhandi, Dhrstadyumna, Virata, the unconquerable Satyaki."
TEXT 18
द्रुपदो द्रौपदेयाश्र्च सर्वशः पृथिवीपते ।
सौभद्रश्र्च महाबाहुः शङ्खन्दध्मुः पृथक्पृथक्॥१८॥
TRANSLATION
"Drupada, the sone of Draupadi, and the others, O King, such as the mighty-armed son of Subhadra, all blew their respective conchshells."
PURPORT
Sanjaya informed King Dhrtarastra very tactfully that his unwise policy of deceiving the sons of Pandu and endeavoring to enthrone his own sons on the seat of the kingdom was not very laudable. The signs already clearly indicated that the whole Kuru dynasty would be killed in that great battle. Beginning with the greadsire, Bhisma, down to the grandsons like Abhimanyu and others---including kings from many states of the world--all were present there, and all were doomed. The whole catastrophe was due to King Dhrtarastra, because he encouraged the policy followed by his sons.
TEXT 19
स घोषो धार्तराष्ट्राणां हृदयानि व्यदारयत् ।
नभश्र्च पृथिवीं चैव तुमुलोऽभ्यनुनादयन् ॥१९॥
TRANSLATION
"The blowing of these different conchshells became uproarious. Vibrating both in the sky and on the earth, it shattered the hearts of the sons of Dhrtarastra."
PURPORT
When Bhisma and the others on the side of Duryodhana blew their respective conchshells, there was no heart-breaking on the part of the Pandavas. Such occurrences are not mentioned, but in this particular verse it is mentioned that the hearts of the sons of Dhrtarastra were shattered by the sounds vibrated by the Pandavas' party. This is due to the Pandavas and their confidence in Lord Krsna. One who takes shelter of the Supreme Lord has nothing to fear, even in the midst of the greatest calamity.
TEXT 20
अथ व्यवस्थितान्दृष्ट्वा धार्तराष्ट्रान्कपिध्वजः ।
प्रवृत्ते शस्त्रसम्पाते धनुरूद्यम्य पाण्डवः ।
हृषीकेशं तदा वाक्यमिदमाह महीपते ॥२०॥
TRANSLATION
"At that time Arjuna, the son of Pandu, seated in the chariot bearing the flag marked with Hanuman, took up his bow and prepared to shoot his arrows. O King, after looking at the sons of Dhrtarastra drawn in militart array, Arjuna then spoke to Lord Krsna these words."
PURPORT
The battle was just about to begin. It is understood from the above statement that the sons of Dhrtarastra were more or less disheartened by the unexpected arrangement of military force by the Pandavas, who were guided by the direct instruction of Lord Krsna on the battlefield.
The emblem of Hanumana on the flag of Arjuna is another sign of victory because Hanuman cooperated with Lord Rama in the battle between Rama and Ravana, and Lord Rama emerged victorious.
Now both Rama and Hanuman were present on the chariot of Arjuna to help him. Lord Krsna is Rama himself, and wherever Lord Rama is, His eternal servitor Hanuman and His eternal consort Sita, the goddess of fortune, are present. Therefore, Arjuna had no cause to fear any enemies whatsoever. And above all, the Lord of the senses, Lord Krsna, was personally present to give him direction.
Thus, all good counsel was available to Arjuna in the matter of executing the battle. In such auspicious conditions, arranged by the Lord for His eternal devotee, lay the signs of assured victory.
TEXT 21-22
अर्जुन उवाच
सेनयोरूभयोर्मध्ये रथं स्थापय मेऽच्युत।
यावदेतान्निरीक्षेऽहं योद्धुकामानवस्थितान्॥२१॥
कैर्मया सह योद्धव्यमस्मिन्रणसमुद्यमे ॥२२॥
TRANSLATION
"Arjuna said: O infallible one, please draw my chariot between the two armies so that I may see those present here, who desire to fight, and with whom I must contend in this great trial of arms."
PURPORT
Although Lord Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, out of His causeless mercy He was engaged in the service of His friend. He never fails in His affection for His devotees, and this He is addressed herein as infallible. As charioteer, He had to carry out the orders of Arjuna, and since He did not hesitate to do so, He is addressed as infallible. Although He had accepted the position of a charioteer for His devotee, His supreme position was not challenged.
In all circumstances, He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Hrsikesa, the Lord of the total senes. The relationship between the Lord and His servitor is very sweet and transcendental. The servitor is always ready to render service to the Lord, and similarly, the Lord is always seeking an opportunity to render some service to the devotee. He takes greater pleasure in His pure devotee's assuming the advantageous position of ordering Him than He does in being the giver of orders.
Since He is master, everyone is under His orders, and no one is above Him to order Him. But when He finds that a pure devotee is ordering Him, He obtains transcendental pleasure, although He is the infallible master of all circumstances.
As a pure devotee of the Lord, Arjuna had no desire to fight with his cousins and brother, but he was forced to come onto the battlefield by the obstinacy of Duryodhana, who was never agreeable to any peaceful negotiation. Therefore, he was very anxious to see who the leading persons present on the battlefield were. Although there was no question of a peacemaking endeavor on the battlefield, he wanted to see them again, and to see how much they were bent upon demamding an unwanted war.