संजय उवाच
यन् मां पार्थस्य संग्रामे कर्माणि परिपृच्छसि ॥
तच् छृणुष्व महाराज पार्थो यद् अकरोन् मृधे ॥
रजो दृष्ट्वा समुद्भूतं श्रुत्वा च गजनिस्वनम् ॥
भज्यतां भगदत्तेन कौन्तेयः कृष्णम् अब्रवीत् ॥
यथा प्राग्ज्योतिषो राजा गजेन मधुसूदन ॥
त्वरमाणो ऽभ्यतिक्रान्तो ध्रुवं तस्यैष निस्वनः ॥
saṃjaya uvāca
yan māṃ pārthasya saṃgrāme karmāṇi paripṛcchasi ||
tac chṛṇuṣva mahārāja pārtho yad akaron mṛdhe ||
rajo dṛṣṭvā samudbhūtaṃ śrutvā ca gajanisvanam ||
bhajyatāṃ bhagadattena kaunteyaḥ kṛṣṇam abravīt ||
yathā prāgjyotiṣo rājā gajena madhusūdana ||
tvaramāṇo 'bhyatikrānto dhruvaṃ tasyaiṣa nisvanaḥ ||
Since you ask me about Partha's deeds in the battle, hearken, O great sovereign, to what Partha did in the fight. Having seen the swirling dust and heard the roar of elephants, Kaunteya said to Krishna: 'The army is being crushed by Bhagadatta! Since the king of Pragjyotisha has swiftly burst forward on his elephant, O Madhusudana — surely this is his roar.'
adee243721a0 · published Jul 19, 2026, 3:11:21 PM UTC
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Arjuna learns of the trouble before he sees it: from a single cloud of dust and the roar of elephants alone he perceives with certainty that Bhagadatta has broken through and is crushing the army. Here the discernment of a seasoned warrior shows itself — he reads the battlefield by signs, as the wise read by omens. It is notable that it is not sight but hearing and instinct that reveal the truth to him. The verse teaches that the experienced discern the essence of events from small signs, without waiting for the obvious; that attentive hearing and experience make up for what the eye does not see; and that true knowledge of the field lies not in surveying everything at once, but in the ability to reconstruct the whole from a single mark — dust, a roar — and hasten to where one is needed most.