अवस्थां तादृशीं प्राप्य हते द्रोणे द्रुतं बलम् ॥
पुनरावर्तितं केन यदि जानासि शंस मे ॥
हयानां हेषतां शब्दः कुञ्जराणां च बृंहताम् ॥
रथनेमिस्वनश् चात्र विमिश्रः श्रूयते महान् ॥
एते शब्दा भृशं तीव्राः प्रवृत्ताः कुरुसागरे ॥
मुहुर् मुहुर् उदीर्यन्तः कम्पयन्ति हि मामकान् ॥
avasthāṃ tādṛśīṃ prāpya hate droṇe drutaṃ balam ||
punarāvartitaṃ kena yadi jānāsi śaṃsa me ||
hayānāṃ heṣatāṃ śabdaḥ kuñjarāṇāṃ ca bṛṃhatām ||
rathanemisvanaś cātra vimiśraḥ śrūyate mahān ||
ete śabdā bhṛśaṃ tīvrāḥ pravṛttāḥ kurusāgare ||
muhur muhur udīryantaḥ kampayanti hi māmakān ||
"Having come to such a state, when Drona was slain, by whom was the fleeing army turned back to battle? If you know, tell me. The sound of neighing horses and trumpeting elephants, and the great clatter of chariot rims, is heard mingled here. These exceedingly sharp sounds, risen in the ocean of the Kurus, swelling again and again, shake our own men."
d6c552ea89db · published Jul 19, 2026, 5:08:17 PM UTC
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By the swelling roar Yudhishthira senses that the shattered army has been rallied again by someone's will. It is significant that he asks "if you know" — even a king admits the limits of his own understanding and turns to the wisest for it. The verse teaches that wisdom begins with the admission of not-knowing; and one who is not ashamed to ask before acting forestalls disaster — for understanding the nature of a dreadful sound matters more than answering it in haste.