Sanskrit
अनन्तविजयं राजा कुन्तीपुत्रो युधिष्ठिरः । नकुलः सहदेवश्च सुघोषमणिपुष्पकौ ॥
anantavijayaṃ rājā kuntīputro yudhiṣṭhiraḥ nakulaḥ sahadevaś ca sughoṣamaṇipuṣpakau
Translation
The King Yudhishthira, the son of Kuntî, blew Anantavijaya; Nakula and Sahadeva, Sughosha and Manipushpaka.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
The remaining Pândava brothers sound their own named conches — Anantavijaya (“endless victory”), Sughosha (“honey-tone”), Manipushpaka (“jewel-blossom”). Five brothers, five conches, completing the family’s collective answer to the Kaurava side’s opening blast.
Study deeper
Word by word
- ananta-vijayaṃअनन्त-विजयं
- Anantavijaya — 'endless victory'
- rājāराजा
- the king
- kuntī-putroकुन्ती-पुत्रो
- Kuntī's son
- yudhiṣṭhiraḥयुधिष्ठिरः
- Yudhiṣṭhira
- nakulaḥनकुलः
- Nakula
- sahadevaś caसहदेवश् च
- and Sahadeva
- sughoṣa-maṇipuṣpakauसुघोष-मणिपुष्पकौ
- Sughoṣa and Maṇipuṣpaka — their two conches
Commentary
Site Commentary
The five brothers don’t blow one shared conch between them — each sounds his own, named separately. A collective response built from distinct, individually named contributions carries differently than one voice speaking for everyone, and the text keeps insisting on naming who specifically did what, even inside a unified family front.
Original commentary written for this site · © Amit Singh — original commentary
Apply this verse
Lessons
Personal
- When you're part of a group effort, resist blending entirely into an anonymous 'we' — your specific, named contribution still matters even inside a unified front.
Professional
- On a team delivering a joint result, keep individual contributions visible and specific rather than flattening credit into 'the team did it' — both framings are true, but the specific one is what actually motivates people.
Family & Social
- In a family effort — an event, a caregiving stretch — name each person's specific part rather than crediting only 'the family' as a block; it's truer, and it's noticed.
Ask yourself
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