Settings

100%

Search tips: Use quotes for exact phrases, + for required terms

Bg. 1.15

pāñcajanyaṁ hṛṣīkeśo

devadattaṁ dhanañjayaḥ

pauṇḍraṁ dadhmau mahā-śaṅkhaṁ

bhīma-karmā vṛkodaraḥ

Synonyms

pāñcajanyam-the conchshell named Pāñcajanya; hṛṣīkeśaḥ-Hṛṣīkeśa (Kṛṣṇa, the Lord who directs the senses of the devotees); devadattam-the conchshell named Devadatta; dhanañjayaḥ-Dhanañjaya (Arjuna, the winner of wealth); pauṇḍram-the conch named Pauṇḍram; dadhmau-blew; mahā-śaṅkham-the terrific conchshell; bhīma-karmā-one who performs Herculean tasks; vṛkodaraḥ-the voracious eater (Bhīma).

Translation

Then, Lord Kṛṣṇa blew His conchshell, called Pāñcajanya; Arjuna blew his, the Devadatta; and Bhīma, the voracious eater and performer of Herculean tasks, blew his terrific conchshell called Pauṇḍram.

Purport

Lord Kṛṣṇa is referred to as Hṛṣīkeśa 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, and therefore they are always anxious to describe all living entities as sense-less, 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 Kurukṣetra the Lord directly controls the transcendental senses of Arjuna, and thus His particular name of Hṛṣīkeśa. The Lord has different names according to His different activities. For example, His name is Madhusūdana 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 Vāsudeva because He appeared as the son of Vasudeva; His name is Devakī-nandana because He accepted Devakī as His mother; His name is Yaśodā-nandana because He awarded His childhood pastimes to Yaśodā at Vṛndāvana; His name is Pārtha-sārathi because He worked as charioteer of His friend Arjuna. Similarly, His name is Hṛṣīkeśa because He gave direction to Arjuna on the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra.

Arjuna is referred to as Dhanañjaya 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. Similarly, Bhīma is known as Vṛkodara because he could eat as voraciously as he could perform Herculean tasks, such as killing the demon Hiḍimba. So, the particular types of conchshell blown by the different personalities on the side of the Pāṇḍavas, 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 Kṛṣṇa, 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.

TEXTS 16-18

anantavijayaṁ rājā

kuntī-putro yudhiṣṭhiraḥ

nakulaḥ sahadevaś ca

sughoṣa-maṇipuṣpakau

kāśyaś ca parameṣv-āsaḥ

śikhaṇḍī ca mahā-rathaḥ

dhṛṣṭadyumno virāṭaś ca

sātyakiś cāparājitaḥ

drupado draupadeyāś ca

sarvaśaḥ pṛthivī-pate

saubhadraś ca mahā-bāhuḥ

śaṅkhān dadhmuḥ pṛthak pṛthak

SYNONYMS

ananta-vijayam-the conch named Ananta-vijaya; rājā-the king; kuntī-putraḥ-the son of Kuntī; yudhiṣṭhiraḥ-Yudhiṣṭhira; nakulaḥ-Nakula; sahadevaḥ-Sahadeva; ca-and; sughoṣa-maṇipuṣpakau-the conches named Sughoṣa and Maṇipuṣpaka; kāśyaḥ-the King of Kāśī (Vārāṇasī); ca-and; parama-iṣu-āsaḥ-the great archer; śikhaṇḍī-Śikhaṇḍī; ca-also; mahā-rathaḥ-one who can fight alone against thousands; dhṛṣṭadyumnaḥ-Dhṛṣṭadyumna (the son of King Drupada); virāṭaḥ-Virāṭa (the prince who gave shelter to the Pāṇḍavas while they were in disguise); ca-also; sātyakiḥ-Sātyaki (the same as Yuyudhāna, the charioteer of Lord Kṛṣṇa); ca-and; aparājitaḥ-who had never been vanquished; drupadaḥ-Drupada, the King of Pāñcāla; draupadeyāḥ-the sons of Draupadī; ca-also; sarvaśaḥ-all; pṛthivī-pate-O King; saubhadraḥ-Abhimanyu, the son of Subhadrā; ca-also; mahā-bāhuḥ-mighty-armed; śaṅkhān-conchshells; dadhmuḥ-blew; pṛthak pṛthak-each separately.

TRANSLATION

King Yudhiṣṭhira, the son of Kuntī, blew his conchshell, the Anantavijaya, and Nakula and Sahadeva blew the Sughoṣa and Maṇipuṣpaka. That great archer the King of Kāśī, the great fighter Śikhaṇḍī, Dhṛṣṭadyumna, Virāṭa and the unconquerable Sātyaki, Drupada, the sons of Draupadī, and the others, O King, such as the son of Subhadrā, greatly armed, all blew their respective conchshells.

PURPORT

Sañjaya informed King Dhṛtarāṣṭra very tactfully that his unwise policy of deceiving the sons of Pāṇḍu 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 grandsire, Bhīṣma, 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 Dhṛtarāṣṭra, because he encouraged the policy followed by his sons.