Duryodhana while witnessing the strength of the Pāṇḍavas army supported by the might of Bhīmā weighed his own armies strength under the command of Bhīshma

and perceiving the mood of his preceptor Droṇāchārya, he could understand the inadequacy in his own troops and the perfection of strength on the Pāṇḍavas side to be victorious and internally this aggrieved him heavily.

Bhīshma seeing all this gave a roar like a lion and blew a mighty, reverberating blast on his conch-shell which was followed by a tumultuous beating of drums, blaring of horns and blasting of conch-shells as if indicative of the victory in order to cheer up Duryodhana.

Immediately upon hearing this Lord Krishna and Arjuna seated in their majestic chariot capable of conquering all the worlds; both seized their conch-shells and reverberated a sound that shook all the worlds.

Thereafter Bhīmā, Yudhisṭhīra, Nākula and Sahadeva and the rest of the mahā-rathas of the Pāṇḍava army blew their conch-shells

and the roar which was heard cleaved the hearts of Duryodhana and the army of the Kaurāvas and in their hearts they felt that the battle was already lost.

Thus did Sanjaya narrate to Dhritarāshtra whose only concern was for the success of his son Duryodhana and the Kaurāvas in the battle.

12 "Then, to inspire cheer in him, the aged grand-sire of the Kurus—he of great prowess—mightily roared forth the lion's roar and blew his conch. (125)

At these words of Duryodhana the Commander-in-Chief, the son of the Ganges felt greatly pleased and made (as it were) a lion-roar ( सिंहनाद ). It was such a wonderful sound that it reverberated throughout the armies on both the sides and got also outside, the echo not remaining confined to them. With this tremendous sound the valour of Bhishma rose up within himself and with that excitement Bhishma blew his powerful conch. Both these sounds getting combined rendered the whole universe insensible, giving the impression that the very heavens were going to crash down. The sky thundered, the ocean swelled and the universe got terror-stricken and all trembled. Owing to this great sound the mountain and the waves got stricken down and at the same time the instruments of war-music made their sounds throughout the army.

'Tasya sañjanayanharṣaṁ'—Here, it should have been said, that Bhīṣma blew his conch and it cheered Duryodhana. But it is said that Bhīṣma, cheering up Duryodhana, blew his conch. Sañjaya wants to state that the very action of blowing the conch, will certainly cheer up Duryodhana. To express this influence of Bhīṣma, Sañjaya uses the adjective 'Pratāpavān' (glorious).

'Kuruvṛddhaḥ'—Though in the Kuru race Bāhlīka (the younger brother of Bhīṣma's father Śāntanu), was older than Bhīṣma, yet Bhīṣma, possessed better knowledge of righteousness and God, than all other old members, in the race. So Sañjaya, calls him 'Kuruvṛddhaḥ', (the grand old man of the Kaurava race).

'Pratāpavān'—Bhīṣma was well-known for his renunciation of wealth and woman i.e., he did not accept any kingdom nor did he marry. He was well-versed in military science and scriptures. So the warrior class were very much influenced by him.

When Bhīṣma for his brother Vicitravīrya kidnapped all by himself, the daughters of the king of Kāśī, from the place where their suitors had assembled to marry them, the Kṣatriya suitors attacked him, but he alone defeated all of them. He was so well-versed, in the science of weapons and warfare, that he did not accept his defeat even against his preceptor Paraśurāma,

who had taught him the science of weapons etc. Thus he had great influence over the Kṣatriyas (warrior class), because of his skill in military science.

When Bhīṣma was lying on a bed of arrows Lord Kṛṣṇa said to Yudhiṣṭhira, 'If you want to put any question on righteousness (Dharma), ask him now, because the sun of the knowledge of scriptures, is going to set, i.e., Bhīṣma, a great scholar of scriptures is going to die.'* Thus, we see that he had great mastery over the scriptures and others were very much influenced by this knowledge.

'Pitāmahaḥ'—This word seems to mean that Droṇācārya did not attach any importance to the tricks played by Duryodhana. He understood that Duryodhana wanted to deceive him. So he remained silent. But Bhīṣma is the grand-uncle of Duryodhana. So he sees Duryodhana's child-like behaviour, in his tricks. Hence Bhīṣma unlike Droṇācārya, breaks his silence and blows his conch to cheer up Duryodhana, and show his affection for him.

'Sinhanādām vinadyoccalh śaṅkham dadhmau'—When a lion roars ferociously, even large wild animals like elephants etc., get horror-struck. Similarly, by roaring ferociously, Bhīṣma blew his conch to cheer up Duryodhana, and terrorise the warriors, of the hostile army.

Appendix—Duryodhana's relationship with Droṇācārya was that of pupil-teacher while with Bhīṣma he had the family relationship. Where there is the pupil-teacher relationship, there is no partiality but in family relationship because of the affection for the family, partiality ensues. Therefore having heard the tricky words uttered by Duryodhana, Droṇācārya remained quiet which discouraged Duryodhana. But because of family-affection, having seen Duryodhana sad, Bhīṣma blew the conch in order to encourage Duryodhana.

* Mahābhārata, Śānti. 46/23

*Link:—In the verse that follows, Sañjaya narrates the effect of sounding the conch by Bhīṣma.*

या राजाचिया बोला । सेनापति संतोषला। मग तेणे केला । सिंहनादु ॥ १२५॥

तो गाजत असे अद्भुतु । दोन्ही सैन्यांआंतु । प्रतिध्वनि न समातु । उपजत असे ॥ १२६॥

तयाचि तुलगासवे । वीरवृत्तिचेनि थावें । दिव्य शंख भीष्मदेवें । आस्फुरिला ॥ १२७॥

ते दोन्ही नाद मिनले । तेथ त्रैलोक्य बधिरभूत जाहलें । जैसें आकाश कां पडिलें । तुटोनियां ॥ १२८॥

घडघडीत अंबर । उचंबळत सागर । क्षोभलें चराचर । कांपत असे ॥ १२९॥

तेणें महाघोषगजरें । दुमदुमताती गिरिकंदरें । तंव दलामाजि रणतुरें । आस्फारिलीं ॥१३०॥

(1.125) राजा के इस वचन से सेनापति भीष्म को संतोष हुआ और उसने सिंह के समान गर्जना की।

(1.126) वह अद्भुत सिंहनाद दोनों सेनाओं के बीच गरजा और उसी प्रतिध्वनि ऐसी उठी कि वहाँ समा न सकी।

(1.127) इतने में उस प्रतिध्वनि के समान ही भीष्मदेव ने अपनी वीरवृत्ति की सामर्थ्य से अपना दिव्य शंख फूँका।

(1.128) ये दोनों नाद एकत्र हुए तब सब त्रैलोक्य बहिरा सा हो गाय, ऐसा जान पड़ा मानों आकाश ही टूटकर गिर पड़ा हो। (1.129) संपूर्ण वायुमण्डल गरज उठा, समुद्र उबलने लगा, और सब चराचर क्षुब्ध हो कैंप उठे।

(1.130) उस महाघोष की गर्जना पहाड़ों की गुफाओं में घूम रही थी, इतने में सेनाओं में मारू बाजे बजने लगे।

‘तस्य सज्जनयन् हर्षम्’—यद्यपि दुर्योधनके हृदयमें हर्ष होना शंखध्वनिका कार्य है और शंखध्वनि कारण है, इसलिये यहाँ शंखध्वनिका वर्णन पहले और हर्ष होनेका वर्णन पीछे होना चाहिये अर्थात् यहाँ ‘शंख बजाते हुए दुर्योधनको हर्षित किया’—ऐसा कहा जाना चाहिये। परन्तु यहाँ ऐसा न कहकर यही कहा है कि ‘दुर्योधनको हर्षित करते हुए भीष्मजीने शंख बजाया’। कारण कि ऐसा कहकर संजय यह भाव प्रकट कर रहे हैं कि पितामह भीष्मकी शंखवादन क्रियामात्रसे दुर्योधनके हृदयमें हर्ष उत्पन्न हो ही जायगा। भीष्मजीके इस प्रभावको द्योतन करनेके लिये ही संजय आगे ‘प्रतापवान्’ विशेषण देते हैं।

‘कुरुवृद्धः’—यद्यपि कुरुवंशियोंमें आयुकी दृष्टिसे भीष्मजीसे भी अधिक वृद्ध बाह्लीक थे (जो कि भीष्मजीके पिता शान्तनुके छोटे भाई थे), तथापि कुरुवंशियोंमें जितने बड़े-बूढ़े थे, उन सबमें भीष्मजी धर्म और ईश्वरको विशेषतासे जाननेवाले थे। अतः ज्ञानवृद्ध होनेके कारण संजय भीष्मजीके लिये ‘कुरुवृद्धः’ विशेषण देते हैं।

‘प्रतापवान्’—भीष्मजीके त्यागका बड़ा प्रभाव था। वे कनक-कामिनीके त्यागी थे अर्थात् उन्होंने राज्य भी स्वीकार नहीं किया और विवाह भी नहीं किया। भीष्मजी अस्त्र-शस्त्रको चलानेमें बड़े निपुण थे और शास्त्रके भी बड़े जानकार थे। उनके इन दोनों गुणोंका भी लोगोंपर बड़ा प्रभाव था।

जब अकेले भीष्म अपने भाई विचित्रवीर्यके लिये

परिशिष्ट भाव—दुर्योधनके साथ द्रोणाचार्यका विद्याका सम्बन्ध था और भीष्मजीका जन्मका अर्थात् कौटुम्बिक सम्बन्ध था। जहाँ विद्याका सम्बन्ध होता है, वहाँ पक्षपात नहीं होता, पर जहाँ कौटुम्बिक सम्बन्ध होता है, वहाँ स्नेहवश पक्षपात हो जाता है। अतः दुर्योधनके द्वारा चालाकीसे कहे गये वचन सुनकर द्रोणाचार्य चुप रहे, जिससे दुर्योधनका मानसिक उत्साह भंग हो गया। परन्तु दुर्योधनको उदास देखकर कौटुम्बिक स्नेहके कारण भीष्मजी शंख बजाते हैं।

काशिराजकी कन्याओंको स्वयंवरसे हरकर ला रहे थे, तब वहाँ स्वयंवरके लिये इकट्ठे हुए सब क्षत्रिय उनपर टूट पड़े। परन्तु अकेले भीष्मजीने उन सबको हरा दिया। जिनसे भीष्म अस्त्र-शस्त्रकी विद्या पड़े थे, उन गुरु परशुरामजीके सामने भी उन्होंने अपनी हार स्वीकार नहीं की। इस प्रकार शस्त्रके विषयमें उनका क्षत्रियोंपर बड़ा प्रभाव था।

जब भीष्म शर-शय्यापर सोये थे, तब भगवान् श्रीकृष्णने धर्मराजसे कहा कि ‘आपको धर्मके विषयमें कोई शंका हो तो भीष्मजीसे पूछ लें; क्योंकि शास्त्रज्ञानका सूर्य अस्ताचलको जा रहा है अर्थात् भीष्मजी इस लोकसे जा रहे हैं।’ इस प्रकार शास्त्रके विषयमें उनका दूसरोंपर बड़ा प्रभाव था।

‘पितामहः’—इस पदका आशय यह मालूम देता है कि दुर्योधनके द्वारा चालाकीसे कही गयी बातोंका द्रोणाचार्यने कोई उत्तर नहीं दिया। उन्होंने यही समझा कि दुर्योधन चालाकीसे मेरेको ठगना चाहता है, इसलिये वे चुप ही रहे। परन्तु पितामह (दादा) होनेके नाते भीष्मजीको दुर्योधनकी चालाकीमें उसका बचपना दीखता है। अतः पितामह भीष्म द्रोणाचार्यके समान चुप न रहकर वात्सल्यभावके कारण दुर्योधनको हर्षित करते हुए शंख बजाते हैं।

‘सिंहनादं विनद्योच्चैः शङ्खं दध्मौ’—जैसे सिंहके गर्जना करनेपर हाथी आदि बड़े-बड़े पशु भी भयभीत हो जाते हैं, ऐसे ही गर्जना करनेमात्रसे सभी भयभीत हो जायँ और दुर्योधन प्रसन्न हो जाय—इसी भावसे भीष्मजीने सिंहके समान गरजकर जोरसे शंख बजाया।

* तस्मिन्नस्तमिते भीष्मे कौरवाणां धुरंधरे। ज्ञानान्यस्तं गमिष्यन्ति तस्मात् त्वां चोदयाम्यहम् ॥ (महाभारत, शान्ति ४६। २३)

सम्बन्ध—पितामह भीष्मके द्वारा शंख बजानेका परिणाम क्या हुआ, इसको संजय आगेके श्लोकमें कहते हैं।