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Bhagavad Gita 1.16-18

Text 16-18

anantavijayam raja
kunti-putro yudhisthirah
nakulah sahadevas ca
sughosa-manipuspakau

kasyas ca paramesv-asah
sikhandi ca maha-rathah
dhrishtadyumno viratas ca
satyakis caparajitah

drupado draupadeyas ca
sarvasah prithivi-pate
saubhadras ca maha-bahuh
sankhan dadhmuh prithak prithak

Translation

King Yudhishthira, the son of Kunti, blew his conchshell, the Ananta-vijaya, and Nakula and Sahadeva blew the Sughosa and Manipuspaka. That great archer the King of Kasi, the great fighter Sikhandi, Dhrishtadyumna, Virata, the unconquerable Satyaki, Drupada, the sons of Draupadi, and the others, O King, such as the mighty-armed son of Subhadra, all blew their respective conchshells.

Commentary by Srila Prabhupada

Sanjaya informed King Dhritarashtra very tactfully that his unwise policy of deceiving the sons of Pandu and endeavoring to enthrone his own sons on the seat of the kingdom was not very laudable. The signs already clearly indicated that the whole Kuru dynasty would be killed in that great battle. Beginning with the grandsire, Bhishma, down to the grandsons like Abhimanyu and others—including kings from many states of the world—all were present there, and all were doomed. The whole catastrophe was due to King Dhritarashtra, because he encouraged the policy followed by his sons.

Commentary by Sri Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakur

Texts 15-16: The names of the conch shells are listed here, starting with Krishna's Pancajanya.

Texts 17-18: The word aparajitah means unconquerable. However, it can be read capa rajitah, by including the previous ca as part of the word instead a separate word meaning "and", in which case it means "equipped with a bow."

Rudra Vaisnava Sampradaya:

Visnuswami

There is no commentary for this verse.

Brahma Vaisnava Sampradaya:

Madhvacarya

Madhvacarya's Commentary

Madhvacarya has no commentary so we present Baladeva Vidyabhusana's.

The use of the word raja meaning king illustrates Yudhisthira receiving that title from the Rasasuya ceremony he successfully performed by receiving tribute from all other kings and crowning him so. Thus the superiority of the Pandavas is illustrated along with the inferiority of the Kauravas. By addressing Dhritarastra as prthivi-pate,Sanjaya is implying that the destruction of his dynasty by his own evil instigations and unrighteousness is eminent.

Sri Vaisnava Sampradaya:

Ramanuja

There is no commentary for this verse.

Kumara Vaisnava Sampradaya:

Nimbaditya

Kesava Kasmiri's Commentary

The purport is that the conchshell Pancajanya of Lord Krishna and the conch shells Devadatta, Paundram, Anantavijaya, Sughosa and Manipuspaka of the five Panadvas are renowned and famous; but in the army of Duryodhana there are no famous conch shells with any names. The point is whoever has aligned themselves with the Supreme Lord Krishna as their protector, undoubtedly without question will always be victorious. Then the warriors of the Pandava army began to sound their conch shells. Sikhandi is the son of Drupada who was born out of penance especially to slay Bhishma. Dristradyumna was born from a fire sacrifice especially to slay Drona. Satyaki was invincible like Arjuna never knowing defeat. So this verse is indirectly revealing to Dhritarastra that he should not entertain any ideas that his son Duryodhana will be victorious in the battle even with the assistance of Bhishma and Drona.

"Everybody Wants to Be Served"

73/07/16 London, Bhagavad-gita 1.16-19

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Pradyumna (leads chanting, etc.):

anantavijayam raja
kunti-putro yudhisthirah
nakulah sahadevas ca
sughosa-manipuspakau

kasyas ca paramesvasah
sikhandi ca maha-rathah
dhrstadyumno viratas ca
satyakis caparajitah

drupado draupadeyas ca
sarvasah prthivi-pate
saubhadras ca maha-bahuh
sankhan dadhmuh prthak prthak
[Bg. 1.16-18]

"King Yudhisthira, the son of Kunti, blew his conchshell, the Anantavijaya, and Nakula and Sahadeva blew the Sughosa and Manipuspaka. That great archer the King of Kasi, the great fighter Sikhandi, Dhrstadyumna, Virata and the unconquerable Satyaki, Drupada, the sons of Draupadi, and the others, O King, such as the son of Subhadra, greatly armed, all blew their respective conchshells."

Prabhupada: So here Dhrtarastra is addressed as prthivi-pati, the lord of the world. Prthivi, prthivi means this planet. So five thousand years ago, from the statement it appears that the king of Hastinapura was the emperor of the whole world, prthivi-pati. One king, the whole planet was being governed by one emperor or king, and different parts of the world, other kings, subordinate kings, as they are named here, Drupada, then Virata, Kasya, in different parts of the world they came and joined. And each and every one of them possessed a different kind of bugle, sankha. So they declared that now we are ready to fight.

And another significance of this verse is, Yudhisthira is also described here as raja. In the beginning Sanjaya informed Dhrtarastra that Duryodhana raja. So actually the fight is between the two kings. One side Duryodhana, another side Yudhisthira. One may not misunderstand, therefore particularly mentioned kunti-putra, this raja is Kunti's son, kunti-putra. So Drupada, Maharaja Drupada, the father of Draupadi, Draupadi was gained by Arjuna in competition. Draupadi, the daughter of Maharaja Drupada is Draupadi. She is Draupadi. And her sons they are draupadeya.

So the grandfather, the grandsons, all of them were present, because they were allies. Maharaja Drupada happened to be the father-in-law of the Pandavas. Draupadi accepted five husbands. When Draupadi was gained in the competition, they were incognito. The Pandavas were incognito. They were banished for twelve years, and after twelve years, one year they had to live incognito. Nobody would understand where they are living. So they took shelter at the house of Maharaja Virata.

So Virata, at that time this Maharaja Virata's daughter Uttara, was trained by Arjuna for dancing. Arjuna was appointed as a dancing teacher for the daughter of Maharaja Virata, Uttara. So when it was discovered that Arjuna was not a dancing teacher, he was the great hero, Maharaja Virata wanted to offer his daughter, that you marry my daughter, because he was disclosed. So Arjuna said, "How can I marry this girl. I am her teacher. Therefore a teacher is to be considered as father, so it is not possible. So if you like I can get this girl married with my son Saubhadra, Subhadra's son."

Arjuna had another wife Subhadra. That Subhadra, you know, sister of Krsna. Sister of Krsna. So Subhadra, Balarama, elder brother, Krsna, younger brother. Krsna wanted to hand over Subhadra to Arjuna, and Balarama wanted to hand over Subhadra to Duryodhana. So Krsna could not say anything. The elder brother has decided. Therefore Krsna advised Arjuna to kidnap Subhadra. Just see how much Krsna was affectionate to Arjuna that Arjuna liked also to marry Subhadra, and Subhadra also liked, but the elder brother did not agree. So they made a plan that Arjuna kidnap Subhadra.

This kidnapping was allowed among the ksatriyas, and fight. That is ksatriya marriage. Unless there is fight, that marriage is not complete. The red vermillion which we apply, that is ksatriya principle. After killing the opposite party, the blood will be smeared over the hair of the bride. That is conquer, victory. So in every marriage, Krsna had 16,108 wives, and each wife was married by fighting, beginning from Rukmini. Rukmini also, the first wife of Krsna, the first queen, when Krsna became king of Dvaraka, she was the first queen. So Subhadra was kidnapped by Arjuna. Rukmini was settled up to be married with Sisupala. Sisupala also happened to be Krsna's cousin-brother, and Rukmini did not like that she would be handed over to Sisupala. She wanted to marry Krsna. So she sent one letter to Krsna that this is the position. "My brother Rukma, he has decided to hand over to me to Sisupala, but I don't like. So please arrange for kidnapping." A brahmana was sent to Krsna.

That is also another responsibility of ksatriya. If a girl proposes, "I want to marry you," a ksatriya cannot refuse, he cannot refuse. He must marry that girl, even at the risk of life. This is ksatriya spirit. One raksasi, she wanted to marry Bhima. So Bhima refused, she was a raksasi. So she complained to Maharaja Yudhisthira that I wanted to marry Bhima but he has refused. And Yudhisthira Maharaja compelled Bhima, "You must marry. Even though she is raksasi, you are ksatriya you cannot refuse." This was the system, very nice system, brahmana, ksatriya, vaisya, sudra. Don't work now, you should hear. You cannot divert your attention.

So all these kings on the side of the Pandavas, they were relatives, so they joined. So when they blew their different types of conchshell, then the other side were trembled, "Oh, they have gathered so much strength." Because Duryodhana thought that for, continually for thirteen years Pandavas were banished, so they could not gather any good amount of soldiers. But when they saw that so many kings from different parts of the world have joined them, so they became frightened. That is described in the next verse, sa ghoso dhartarastranam hrdayani vyadarayat. They are just like heart-broken: "What is this? They have gathered so much great, great fighters." Nabhas ca prthivim caiva tumulo 'bhyanunadayan. You read this verse.

Pradyumna:

sa ghoso dhartarastranam
hrdayani vyadarayat.
nabhas ca prthivim caiva
tumulo 'bhyanunadayan
[Bg. 1.19]

Translation: "The blowing of these different conchshells became uproarious, and thus, vibrating both in the sky and on the earth, it shattered the hearts of the sons of Dhrtarastra."

Prabhupada: So enemy, when one enemy fights, the other party, well-equipped, strong, so it breaks the heart of the enemy. That happened. So there is nothing to especially... The breaking of the heart by vibrating different types of conchshell from the side of the Pandavas, it broke the heart of the dhartarastranam. Dhrtarastra, his sons, one hundred sons. So from Dhrtarastra, Dhartarastra, dhartarastranam hrdayani vyadarayat. And it resounded both in the sky or on the surface. So I think that's all. (end)

>>> Ref. VedaBase => Bhagavad-gita 1.16-19 -- London, July 16, 1973

Comment: One important lesson is that the Pandavas lost Draupadi in a gambling with dice, and Srila Prabhupada has written:

"Gambling is also an art. Ksatriyas are allowed to exhibit talent in this art of gambling. By the grace of Krsna, the Pandavas lost everything by gambling and were deprived of their kingdom, wife, family and home because they were not expert in the gambling art. In other words, a devotee may not be expert in materialistic activities. It is therefore advised in the sastra that materialistic activities are not at all suitable for the living entities, especially the devotees. A devotee should therefore be satisfied to eat whatever is sent as prasada by the Supreme Lord. A devotee remains pure because he does not take to sinful activities such as gambling, intoxication, meat-eating and illicit sex."

Srimad Bhagavatam 9.9.16.1

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Bhagavad Gita 1.16-18

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