Verse 11.26

Verse 11.26: “And here are the sons of Dhritarastra, all, together, also with congregated Rulers of the Earth, Bhisma, Drona, likewise this (Kama) son of the charioteer: along too with the chief warriors belonging to us. (392)

Commentary called Jnaneshwari by Jnaneshwar:

Are not these the warriors of the Kaurava dynasty? and the sons of the blind King Dhritarashtra? They have been hurried fast along with their retinues into thy mouths! The assembled kings of several countries too that came as allies, are being wholly gulped down; not one is spared to return to tell the story of their sad fate. And thou art gulping down greedily swarms of elephants in rut, and art revenging their Mahouts (rider-keeper) too.^[1] Crowds of Artillery men and gunners, no less than multitudes as of infantry-men, are being lost in thy mouths. Myriads of deadly weapons are being swallowed up in thy mouths, although they are twin-brothers of Yama—God of death—and each single weapon is capable of consuming the entire universe.

And the four-armed vast hosts in battle array (caturaṅga sainya), along with the equipped chariots with horses harnessed to them, are being taken in greedily without being worked about between teeth. How well-pleased thou art with all this carnage? Alas, here thou hast finished Bhishma, than whom no better lover of truth and valour is met with: and that Brahmin Drona too is slain. Oh, what a pity; even the warrior Kama, born of the Sun, has disappeared—gone completely—the same way; while the principal warriors on our side (too) are being blown off like dust. Oh my God! Strange indeed is the upshot of this divine grace! I prayed for a vision of Divine Omnipresence, and brought down death and destruction on the whole universe. Erstwhile the Lord recounted his principal divine emanations; not content with this, I importuned the Lord for direct visions thereof.

One cannot but suffer what is foreordained by fate that shapes our wills. How then can I escape from the guilt that must rest on my head; in days of yore, the Gods who churned the ocean were blessed in the possession of nectar; not content with the gift, the Gods went on churning, till the ocean turned up the Poison of deadly virulence. In a way that grievous disaster was, as it turned out, a bit of a trifle, since it was warded off, and Lord Shankara saved the world from the danger. But who can quench this holocaust of blazing blast, and who can swallow up the whole vault of heaven, brimming over with poison, and who indeed has the gigantic strength to wrestle with the great destructor? Thus did Arjuna sorrow over the great vision, and was distressed in soul; but he could not catch on the timer motive of the Lord. Seized with the delusive phantom, Arjuna had imagined himself as the slayer and the Kauravas as the slain!

By this mighty vision of His Divine Omnipresence, the Infinite Maker, smashed the delusion. Under the cover of that vision of his Omnipresent might, Lord Hari revealed the great truth that none other was the slayer, and the Lord Himself in good sooth blots all things out of existence. The son of Pandu was ill at ease to lay hold on this truth, and with great affliction of soul he quailed ever and anon before that prodigious vision.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

There is “pāṭhabheda [pāṭhabhedaḥ]” in Kunte Edition the word is “āraṇī” (yuddha) while in the Bhide Edition the word is “ādhāraṇī” (māhūta).