Dhritarastra said: "O Sanjaya, after assembling in the place of pilgrimage at Kuruksetra, what did my sons and the sons of Pandu do, being desirous to fight?"
Sanjaya said: "O King, after looking over the army gathered by the sons of Pandu, King Duryodhana went to his teacher and said.
"O my teacher, behold the great army of the sons of Pandu, so expertly arranged by your intelligent disciple, the son of Drupada.
Here in this army there are many heroic bowmen equal in fighting to Bhima and Arjuna; there are also great fighters like Yuyudhana, Virata and Drupada. There are also great, heroic, powerful fighters like Dhristaketu, Nachiketa, Kasiraja, Purujit, Kuntibhoja and Saibya.
There are the mighty Yudhamanyu, the very powerful Uttamauja, the son of Subhadra and the sons of Draupadi. All these warriors are great fighters. O best of the brahmanas, for your information, let me tell you about the captains who are especially qualified to lead my military force.
There are personalities like yourself Bhisma, Karna, Kripa, Asvatthama, Vikarna and the son of Somadatta called Bhurisrava, who are always victorious in battle. There are many other heroes who are prepared to lay down their lives for my sake. All of them are well equipped with different kinds of weapons, and all are experienced in military science.
Our strength is immeasurable, and we enjoy the protection of Grandfather Bhisma, whereas the strength of the Pandavas, carefully protected by Bhima, is limited. Now all of you must give full support to Grandfather Bhisma, standing at your respective strategic points in the phalanx of the army.
Then Bhisma, the great valiant grandsire of the Kuru dynasty, the grandfather of the fighters, blew his conch shell very loudly like the sound of a lion, giving Duryodhana joy.
After that, the conch shell's bugles, trumpets, drums and horns were all suddenly sounded, and the combined sound that emerged was tumultuous.
On the other side, both Lord Krishna and Arjuna, stationed on a great chariot dawn by white horses, sounded their transcendental conch shells.
Then, Lord Krishna blew His conch shell, called Panchajanya; Arjuna blew his, the Devadatta; and Bhima, the voracious eater and performer of Herculean tasks, blew his terrific conch shell called Paundra.
King Yudhistira, the son of Kunti, blew his conch shell, the Ananta- vijaya, and Nakula and Sahadeva blew the Sughosa and Manipuspaka. | |