Sanskrit
स घोषो धार्तराष्ट्राणां हृदयानि व्यदारयत् । नभश्च पृथिवीं चैव तुमुलो व्यनुनादयन् ॥
sa ghoṣo dhārtarāṣṭrāṇāṃ hṛdayāni vyadārayat nabhaś ca pṛthivīṃ caiva tumulo vyanunādayan
Translation
That tumultuous uproar rent the hearts of the sons of Dhritarâshtra, filling the earth and sky with sound.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
The collective Pândava blast is said to rend the hearts of the Kauravas specifically — a detail that closes the conch-blowing sequence on a note of psychological effect, not just sound. It’s a small piece of foreshadowing: the chapter is about to show a battlefield crisis of the heart, though the one it dwells on at length will be Arjuna’s, not his cousins’.
Study deeper
Word by word
- sa ghoṣoस घोषो
- that uproar
- dhārtarāṣṭrāṇāṃधार्तराष्ट्राणां
- of Dhṛtarāṣṭra's sons
- hṛdayāniहृदयानि
- hearts
- vyadārayatव्यदारयत्
- tore apart
- nabhaś caनभश् च
- and the sky
- pṛthivīṃ caivaपृथिवीं चैव
- and the earth too
- tumuloतुमुलो
- tumultuous
- vyanunādayanव्यनुनादयन्
- making resound
Commentary
Site Commentary
Notice who actually gets shaken here — not the side about to be attacked, but the side that assembled the larger force and had just ordered its own commander guarded. Sound alone, with no arrow yet loosed, is enough to unsettle a side that, on paper, holds every advantage. Fear often has surprisingly little to do with an accurate read of who’s actually stronger.
Original commentary written for this site · © Amit Singh — original commentary
Apply this verse
Lessons
Personal
- Notice when your own fear response is being driven by noise or perception rather than an accurate read of the actual odds — check the accurate read before you let the fear set your next move.
Professional
- A competitor's confident, loud announcement — all signal, no product yet — can rattle a team that's actually in the stronger position; separate the noise from the real competitive read before reacting to it.
Family & Social
- A loud, confident declaration from one side of a family disagreement can unsettle the other side regardless of who's actually right — don't let volume substitute for your own honest assessment.
Ask yourself
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