11. Duryodhana urged all the Kaurava generals to make sure they are around Grandsire Bheeshma and give him full support while they defend their own respective positions in the military phalanx. Duryodhana beheld Bheeshma's unassailability as an advantage and wanted to use it as strength and inspiration for his army.
12. Bheeshma was aware that Duryodhana had no chance of victory as the Supreme Lord Shree Krishna was on the opposite side. However, he understood his grand-nephew's anxiety and to cheer him up he blew his conch shell loudly. In olden days, blowing of the conch shell in the battlefield signaled the start of the war. This also conveyed to Duryodhana that Bheeshma was ready to lead the Kaurava army and he would fight dutifully and spare no pain.
13. On hearing Bheeshma's call for battle, everyone in the Kaurava army also started playing various instruments eagerly, creating tumultuous sound. shankhah means conches, panav are drums, anak kettledrums, bhreyah bugles, and go-mukh are blowing horns. All these instruments playing together created a loud pandemonium.
14.The uproar of the Kaurava army had started to wane. Then from the Pandava side, seated on a magnificent chariot the Supreme Lord Shree Krishna and Arjun, both blew their conch shells intrepidly, which ignited the enthusiasm of the Pandava army as well.
Here, Sanjay has addressed Lord Shree Krishna as "Madhav". It is a combination of two words, Mā which refers to goddess Lakshmi, the goddess of prosperity and dhav is used for husband. Goddess Lakshmi is Lord Vishnu's wife, who is one of the many forms of Shree Krishna. This verse implies that the goddess of prosperity was with the Pandavas, and by her grace, they would be triumphant in this war and reclaim their kingdom soon.
The sons of King Pandu are called Pandavas and it may be used for any of the five brothers. In this verse, the Pandava being referred to is Arjun, the third among the five. He was a mighty warrior and a superior archer. His magnificent chariot was a gift from Agni, the celestial god of fire.
15.In this verse, Shree Krishna is addressed as "Hrishikesh" which means the Lord of the mind and senses. Shree Krishna is the Sovereign Master of everybody's minds and senses. Throughout his wonderful pastimes, he displayed complete control over his mind and senses.
16-18 Yudhisthtira, the eldest Pandava is being addressed here as "King." He always displayed royal grace and nobility, whether living in a palace or in a forest when in exile. He also got this title by performing the Rājasūya Yajña a royal sacrifice, which earned him tributes from all the other kings of the world.
In this verse, Sanjay also called Dhritarashtra the "Ruler of the earth." The real reason for this appellation was to remind him of his duties as the ruler of the country. With so many kings and princes participating from both sides in this war, it was as if the entire earth was split into two parties. It was definite that this mammoth war would cause irreversible destruction. The only person who could stop the war at this juncture was Dhritarashtra, and Sanjay wanted to know if he was willing to do that.
19.Sanjay conveyed to Dhritarashtra, that the tremendous sound of the various conch shells from the Pandava army was shattering the hearts of his sons. Whereas, he did not mention any such reaction from the Pandavas, when the Kauravas were creating a commotion. The Kauravas were fearful, as their conscience pricked them for their crimes and misdeeds. They were relying solely on their physical strength to fight the war. However, the Pandavas were confident and felt protected, as the Supreme Lord Shree Krishna was by their side, their victory was definite
20. Here Sanjay addresses Arjun by another name, "Kapi Dhwaj," which means "Monkey Bannered." This denotes the presence of the mighty Monkey God; Hanuman on Arjun's chariot. It so happened that, once Arjun became very boastful of his archery skills and quipped at Shree Krishna. He said, "I do not understand why during Lord Rama's time, the monkeys worked so hard to make a bridge from India to Lanka with heavy stones? If I was there, I would have made a bridge of arrows." The Omniscient Lord asked him, "Alright, go ahead show me your bridge."
Very skillfully Arjun showered thousands of arrows and made a huge bridge. Now, it was time to test it. Shree Krishna called upon great Hanuman for the job. As soon as Hanuman started walking on the bridge, it started crumbling under his feet. Arjun realized his folly; his bridge of arrows could not have upheld the weight of Lord Rama's huge army. He asked for their forgiveness. Subsequently, Hanuman gave Arjun lessons on being humble and never be proud of his skills. He also granted Arjun a boon that, during the great war, he would seat himself on Arjun's chariot. Therefore, Arjun's chariot flag carried the insignia of the great Hanuman.
21-22. Arjun was a skilled warrior, and the most powerful Hanuman was sitting on top of his magnificent chariot. Moreover, his devotion towards the Supreme Lord Shree Krishna was such that, the Lord himself had agreed to be Arjun's charioteer. Here, Arjun was seated on the passenger seat giving instructions to Shree Krishna, his charioteer. He addresses the Lord as Achyuta, the most dependable One and requests him to place the chariot in the middle of the battlefield.
"Although I am Supremely Independent, yet I become enslaved by My devotees. They are very dear to Me, and I become indebted to them for their love." Such is the beauty of God's bond with his devotees that He gets enslaved, beholden by His devotees' love.
23.Arjun was fearless, the Supreme Lord was his charioteer. His outlook was that the Pandavas were legitimately entitled to half the kingdom of Hastinapur, but the wicked sons of Dhritarashtra, the Kauravas had not agreed to share. Arjun was ready for battle, eager to get back what was rightfully theirs and punish them for all their past wrongdoings.
His request for the chariot to be placed in the middle of the battlefield was to take a closer look at the Kaurava army. Arjun wanted to see all those who had taken the side of injustice. He wanted to punish them equally, as they had chosen to be on the wrong side, none of them would be spared.
24. Here, Dhritarashtra is being addressed as Bhārata by Sanjay, which means, "O descendant of the great King Bharat."
25-26. Shree Krishna called Arjun "Parth, son of Pritha, another name for his mother Kunti." Then he pointed at all the warriors like Bhishma, Drona and other kings on the Kaurava side and deliberately used the word "Kuru" to address them. It was to remind Arjun that both Kauravas and Pandavas were all decedents of the great king Kuru. Therefore, the enemy he was so eager to kill was actually his own family and relatives. The Omniscient Lord was sowing the seed of delusion in Arjun's mind, only to eliminate it later. He was preparing the ground for the gospel he was about to preach - The Bhagavad Geeta, which would benefit the future generations in the age of Kali.
27.Shree Krishna's words had the desired effect on Arjun. Looking at the armies on both sides of the battlefield, his heart sank, they were all "Kurus" his relatives. The brave warrior who wanted to punish the Kauravas for all their wickedness a few minutes back suddenly became fearful. Comprehending the devastation this war would cause, his valor started to diminish. Hence, Sanjay has called him Kaunteyah the son of Kunti, denoting that Arjun had become softhearted, similar to his mother. However, Arjun was now very confused and his mind filled with questions.
28.Arjun realized that all the warriors on the battlefield ready to shed blood were none other than his own relatives, friends, and family. He was filled with remorse and fearful of performing his duty of fighting this war. The cause for these sentiments was his attachment towards his bodily relatives. He became forgetful of his spiritual existence, that he was not just the body. His affection for his bodily relatives had blinded his consciousness.
In the materialistic concept, we consider ourselves to be only the body, which is emotionally attached to all its bodily relatives. As this attachment is based on ignorance it carries with it the physical burdens of life like pain, sorrow, grief, and death. Only the death of the physical body can end these materialistic attachments. We are more than just the physical body; our eternal souls are beyond life and death. Tangled in the various attachments of the material world, we keep forgetting that the Supreme Lord is our only permanent relative. He is the Father, Mother, Friend, Master, and Beloved of our soul.