The conches answer back

Where we are

Sañjaya is still telling the blind king Dhṛtarāṣṭra what is happening at Kurukshetra. In the previous reading, Prince Duryodhana finished his anxious speech and the old commander Bhīṣma lifted his spirits with a lion's roar and a blast on his conch. Now the whole Kaurava army joins in with a sudden din. Then, from the other side, Krishna and Arjuna answer from their chariot, and the Pāṇḍava brothers sound their conches one after another, each called by name.

The verses

1. 1.13

   Then, all at once, conches, kettledrums, small drums, big drums and horns were sounded together. The noise they made was a huge, chaotic roar.

   अShow the SanskritHide the Sanskrit for verse 1.13

   ततः शङ्खाश्च भेर्यश्च पणवानकगोमुखाः ।
   सहसैवाभ्यहन्यन्त स शब्दस्तुमुलोऽभवत् ॥ १३ ॥

   tataḥ śaṅkhāś ca bheryaś ca paṇavānakagomukhāḥ
   sahasaivābhyahanyanta sa śabdas tumulo 'bhavat

   Say it

   tuh-tuh-huh shun-khaash-chuh bhay-ryush-chuh puh-nuh-vaa-nuh-kuh-go-moo-khaa-haa
   suh-huh-sai-vaa-bhyuh-hun-yun-tuh suh shub-dus-too-moo-lo-bhuh-vut

   Word by word

   tataḥ

   then

   śaṅkhāḥ ca bheryaḥ ca

   conches and kettledrums

   paṇava-ānaka-gomukhāḥ

   small drums, large drums and cow-horn trumpets

   sahasā eva

   all at once, suddenly

   abhyahanyanta

   were struck, were sounded

   saḥ śabdaḥ

   that sound

   tumulaḥ abhavat

   became a tumult, a deafening uproar

2. 1.14

   Then, standing on their great chariot drawn by white horses, Krishna and Arjuna blew their own divine conches in reply.

   अShow the SanskritHide the Sanskrit for verse 1.14

   ततः श्वेतैर्हयैर्युक्ते महति स्यन्दने स्थितौ ।
   माधवः पाण्डवश्चैव दिव्यौ शङ्खौ प्रदध्मतुः ॥ १४ ॥

   tataḥ śvetair hayair yukte mahati syandane sthitau
   mādhavaḥ pāṇḍavaś caiva divyau śaṅkhau pradadhmatuḥ

   Say it

   tuh-tuh-huh shvay-tair huh-yair yook-tay muh-huh-ti syun-duh-nay sthi-tau
   maa-dhuh-vuh-huh paan-duh-vush-chai-vuh div-yau shun-khau pruh-dudh-muh-too-huh

   Word by word

   tataḥ

   then

   śvetaiḥ hayaiḥ yukte

   yoked with white horses

   mahati syandane

   on a great chariot

   sthitau

   the two, standing

   mādhavaḥ

   Mādhava, Krishna

   pāṇḍavaḥ ca eva

   and the son of Pāṇḍu, Arjuna

   divyau śaṅkhau

   their two divine conches

   pradadhmatuḥ

   the two blew loudly

3. 1.15

   Krishna blew the conch called Pāñcajanya and Arjuna blew Devadatta. Bhīma, the wolf-bellied brother known for fearsome deeds, blew his great conch Pauṇḍra.

   अShow the SanskritHide the Sanskrit for verse 1.15

   पाञ्चजन्यं हृषीकेशो देवदत्तं धनञ्जयः ।
   पौण्ड्रं दध्मौ महाशङ्खं भीमकर्मा वृकोदरः ॥ १५ ॥

   pāñcajanyaṃ hṛṣīkeśo devadattaṃ dhanaṃjayaḥ
   pauṇḍraṃ dadhmau mahāśaṅkhaṃ bhīmakarmā vṛkodaraḥ

   Say it

   paan-chuh-jun-yum hri-shee-kay-sho day-vuh-dut-tum dhuh-nun-juh-yuh-huh
   paun-drum dudh-mau muh-haa-shun-khum bhee-muh-kur-maa vri-ko-duh-ruh-huh

   Word by word

   pāñcajanyam

   the conch Pāñcajanya

   hṛṣīkeśaḥ

   Hṛṣīkeśa, lord of the senses (Krishna)

   devadattam

   the conch Devadatta, “god-given”

   dhanaṃjayaḥ

   Dhanañjaya, “winner of wealth” (Arjuna)

   pauṇḍram

   the conch Pauṇḍra

   dadhmau mahā-śaṅkham

   blew the great conch

   bhīma-karmā

   doer of fearsome deeds

   vṛkodaraḥ

   Vṛkodara, “wolf-belly” (Bhīma)

4. 1.16

   King Yudhiṣṭhira, son of Kuntī, blew Anantavijaya, and the twins Nakula and Sahadeva blew Sughoṣa and Maṇipuṣpaka.

   अShow the SanskritHide the Sanskrit for verse 1.16

   अनन्तविजयं राजा कुन्तीपुत्रो युधिष्ठिरः ।
   नकुलः सहदेवश्च सुघोषमणिपुष्पकौ ॥ १६ ॥

   anantavijayaṃ rājā kuntīputro yudhiṣṭhiraḥ
   nakulaḥ sahadevaś ca sughoṣamaṇipuṣpakau

   Say it

   uh-nun-tuh-vi-juh-yum raa-jaa koon-tee-poo-tro yoo-dhish-thi-ruh-huh
   nuh-koo-luh-huh suh-huh-day-vush-chuh soo-gho-shuh-muh-ni-poosh-puh-kau

   Word by word

   anantavijayam

   the conch Anantavijaya, “endless victory”

   rājā

   the king

   kuntī-putraḥ

   son of Kuntī

   yudhiṣṭhiraḥ

   Yudhiṣṭhira, “steady in battle”

   nakulaḥ sahadevaḥ ca

   Nakula and Sahadeva, the twins

   sughoṣa-maṇipuṣpakau

   the conches Sughoṣa (“sweet-sounding”) and Maṇipuṣpaka (“jewel-flowered”)

Context and commentary

Look at how Sañjaya tells the two sides. The Kaurava answer to Bhīṣma is a crowd of instruments with no names, struck “all at once” into a tumult. The Pāṇḍava answer comes one voice at a time, and every conch has a name. Pāñcajanya is traditionally said to come from the shell of a sea demon, Pañcajana, whom Krishna defeated while rescuing his teacher's son; Devadatta means “god-given” and is usually said to be a gift to Arjuna from the god Indra; Anantavijaya means “endless victory”. The epithets matter too. Mādhava links Krishna to the Madhu clan (some readers hear “husband of Lakṣmī” in it), and Hṛṣīkeśa is often explained as “lord of the senses”, a hint of the inner mastery he will teach later. Arjuna is Dhanañjaya, “winner of wealth”, a name from his earlier conquests, and Bhīma is Vṛkodara, “wolf-belly”, for his famous appetite and strength. Many readers take the named, “divine” conches as a quiet sign of where Sañjaya's sympathies lie, even though he serves the other king (interpretation). It is also striking that Krishna, who has promised not to fight in this war, sounds his conch first on his side: he is only the charioteer, but he is not neutral. The classical commentators Śaṅkara, Rāmānuja and Madhva pass over these verses quickly, while modern readers who see the battle as an inner struggle sometimes contrast a mind that drowns itself in noise with one whose faculties each speak clearly (interpretation).