षष्ट्या रथसहस्रैस् तु नागानाम् अयुतेन च ॥
पतिः सर्वकलिङ्गानां ययौ केतुमता सह ॥
तस्य पर्वतसंकाशा व्यरोचन्त महागजाः ॥
यन्त्रतोमरतूणीरैः पताकाभिश् च शोभिताः ॥
शुशुभे केतुमुख्येन पादपेन कलिङ्गपः ॥
श्वेतच्छत्रेण निष्केण चामरव्यजनेन च ॥
केतुमान् अपि मातङ्गं विचित्रपरमाङ्कुशम् ॥
आस्थितः समरे राजन् मेघस्थ इव भानुमान् ॥
तेजसा दीप्यमानस् तु वारणोत्तमम् आस्थितः ॥
भगदत्तो ययौ राजा यथा वज्रधरस् तथा ॥
गजस्कन्धगताव् आस्तां भगदत्तेन संमितौ ॥
विन्दानुविन्दाव् आवन्त्यौ केतुमन्तम् अनुव्रतौ ॥
स रथानीकवान् व्यूहो हस्त्यङ्गोत्तमशीर्षवान् ॥
वाजिपक्षः पतन्न् उग्रः प्राहरत् सर्वतोमुखः ॥
द्रोणेन विहितो राजन् राज्ञा शांतनवेन च ॥
तथैवाचार्यपुत्रेण बाह्लीकेन कृपेण च ॥
ṣaṣṭyā rathasahasrais tu nāgānām ayutena ca ||
patiḥ sarvakaliṅgānāṃ yayau ketumatā saha ||
tasya parvatasaṃkāśā vyarocanta mahāgajāḥ ||
yantratomaratūṇīraiḥ patākābhiś ca śobhitāḥ ||
śuśubhe ketumukhyena pādapena kaliṅgapaḥ ||
śvetacchatreṇa niṣkeṇa cāmaravyajanena ca ||
ketumān api mātaṅgaṃ vicitraparamāṅkuśam ||
āsthitaḥ samare rājan meghastha iva bhānumān ||
tejasā dīpyamānas tu vāraṇottamam āsthitaḥ ||
bhagadatto yayau rājā yathā vajradharas tathā ||
gajaskandhagatāv āstāṃ bhagadattena saṃmitau ||
vindānuvindāv āvantyau ketumantam anuvratau ||
sa rathānīkavān vyūho hastyaṅgottamaśīrṣavān ||
vājipakṣaḥ patann ugraḥ prāharat sarvatomukhaḥ ||
droṇena vihito rājan rājñā śāṃtanavena ca ||
tathaivācāryaputreṇa bāhlīkena kṛpeṇa ca ||
The lord of all the Kalingas marched together with Ketuman, having sixty thousand chariots and ten thousand elephants. His great elephants, resembling mountains, shone, adorned with siege engines, javelins, quivers, and banners. The king of the Kalingas blazed with his foremost banner bearing a tree, with a white parasol, a golden ornament, and a chamara fan. Ketuman, seated in the battle upon an elephant bearing a splendid, matchless goad, looked like the sun amid the clouds. King Bhagadatta, blazing with his own splendor and seated upon the finest elephant, marched forth like Indra, bearer of the thunderbolt. Upon the shoulders of elephants stood Vinda and Anuvinda of Avanti, equal in stature to Bhagadatta and followers of Ketuman. This formidable array, set in order by Drona, by the king, the son of Shantanu, by the preceptor's son, by Bahlika, and by Kripa, had ranks of chariots for its body, elephants for its excellent head, and horses for its wings; surging forward, it struck fiercely on every side.
d71fc11091fa · published Jul 17, 2026, 8:47:27 PM UTC
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The closing verses depict not a chaotic mass but a deliberate war-organism: elephants form the head, cavalry the wings, chariots the body of the array. The might of Bhagadatta and the Kalinga forces is rendered vividly, yet the chapter closes on the image of a war-machine, built by great teachers and elders, for a battle already accompanied by ill omens.