साग्रं शतसहस्रं तु नागानां तव भारत ॥
नागे नागे रथशतं शतं चाश्वा रथे रथे ॥
अश्वे ऽश्वे दश धानुष्का धानुष्के दश चर्मिणः ॥
एवं व्यूढान्य् अनीकानि भीष्मेण तव भारत ॥
अव्यूहन् मानुषं व्यूहं दैवं गान्धर्वम् आसुरम् ॥
दिवसे दिवसे प्राप्ते भीष्मः शांतनवो ऽग्रणीः ॥
महारथौघविपुलः समुद्र इव पर्वणि ॥
भीष्मेण धार्तराष्ट्राणां व्यूहः प्रत्यङ्मुखो युधि ॥
अनन्तरूपा ध्वजिनी त्वदीया; नरेन्द्र भीमा न तु पाण्डवानाम् ॥
तां त्व् एव मन्ये बृहतीं दुष्प्रधृष्यां; यस्या नेतारौ केशवश् चार्जुनश् च ॥
sāgraṃ śatasahasraṃ tu nāgānāṃ tava bhārata ||
nāge nāge rathaśataṃ śataṃ cāśvā rathe rathe ||
aśve 'śve daśa dhānuṣkā dhānuṣke daśa carmiṇaḥ ||
evaṃ vyūḍhāny anīkāni bhīṣmeṇa tava bhārata ||
avyūhan mānuṣaṃ vyūhaṃ daivaṃ gāndharvam āsuram ||
divase divase prāpte bhīṣmaḥ śāṃtanavo 'graṇīḥ ||
mahārathaughavipulaḥ samudra iva parvaṇi ||
bhīṣmeṇa dhārtarāṣṭrāṇāṃ vyūhaḥ pratyaṅmukho yudhi ||
anantarūpā dhvajinī tvadīyā; narendra bhīmā na tu pāṇḍavānām ||
tāṃ tv eva manye bṛhatīṃ duṣpradhṛṣyāṃ; yasyā netārau keśavaś cārjunaś ca ||
You had, O Bharata, more than a hundred thousand elephants; for each elephant a hundred chariots, for each chariot a hundred horses, for each horse ten archers, and for each archer ten shield-bearers. Thus did Bhishma array your battle ranks, O Bharata. Day after day the son of Shantanu, Bhishma, the leader of the army, arrayed formations human, divine, gandharva, and demonic. In battle the array of the sons of Dhritarashtra, facing west and swelled by a flood of great chariot-warriors, was like the ocean at the full moon. O lord of men, your army was of endless and terrible forms; yet I consider that other army — the army of the Pandavas — to be the truly vast and unassailable one, for its leaders are Keshava and Arjuna."
6060eea10f05 · published Jul 17, 2026, 8:47:28 PM UTC
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Sanjaya closes the chapter with a decisive conclusion. Formally, the advantage lies with Dhritarashtra: elephants, chariots, cavalry, archers, and shield-bearers form an overwhelming mass. But what proves decisive is not numbers but the leadership of Keshava and Arjuna. Where Krishna is present, outward smallness ceases to be weakness.