काश्यश्च परमेष्वास: शिखण्डी च महारथ: |
धृष्टद्युम्नो विराटश्च सात्यकिश्चापराजित: || 17||
द्रुपदो द्रौपदेयाश्च सर्वश: पृथिवीपते |
सौभद्रश्च महाबाहु: शङ्खान्दध्मु: पृथक् पृथक् || 18||
kāśhyaśhcha parameṣhvāsaḥ śhikhaṇḍī cha mahā-rathaḥ
dhṛiṣhṭadyumno virāṭaśhcha sātyakiśh chāparājitaḥ
drupado draupadeyāśhcha sarvaśhaḥ pṛithivī-pate
saubhadraśhcha mahā-bāhuḥ śhaṅkhāndadhmuḥ pṛithak pṛithak
kāśhyaḥ—King of Kashi; cha—and; parama-iṣhu-āsaḥ—the excellent archer; śhikhaṇḍī—Shikhandi; cha—also; mahā-rathaḥ—warriors who could single handedly match the strength of ten thousand ordinary warriors; dhṛiṣhṭadyumnaḥ—Dhrishtadyumna; virāṭaḥ—Virat; cha—and; sātyakiḥ—Satyaki; cha—and; aparājitaḥ—invincible; drupadaḥ—Drupad; draupadeyāḥ—the five sons of Draupadi; cha—and; sarvaśhaḥ—all; pṛithivī-pate—Ruler of the earth; saubhadraḥ—Abhimanyu, the son of Subhadra; cha—also; mahā-bāhuḥ—the mighty-armed; śhaṅkhān—conch shells; dadhmuḥ—blew; pṛithak pṛithak—individually
Translation:
The great archer, the king of Kāśi; the great warrior Śikhandi; Dhristadyumna and Virāta; the unconquered Sātyaki; Drupada, and the sons of Draupadi, and the mighty son of Subhadrā, O Lord of the Earth, each blew his own conch.
Shikhandi and Dhrishtadyumna were both sons of King Drupada. Shikhandi was the elder, and Dhrishtadyumna the younger brother. In the beginning, King Drupada had no children, so he resorted to the worship of Bhagavan Shiva with the desire for a successor. Pleased with his devotion, Lord Shiva offered Drupada a boon. King Drupada prayed for a son, but Lord Shiva told him that he would receive a daughter instead. Drupada requested a son, and Lord Shiva reassured him that the daughter would eventually become a son.
As a result of this boon, a daughter was born to King Drupada, but trusting in the words of Bhagavan Shiva, he announced the birth as that of a son. The queen also kept the child’s true gender a secret. The daughter was given the name Shikhandi, raised as a boy, and trained as a prince. In time, this ‘prince’ was married to the daughter of Hiranyavarma, king of the Dasharnas.
When the daughter of Hiranyavarma came to live with her ‘husband,’ she discovered that Shikhandi was actually a woman. Saddened, she informed her father. Enraged, King Hiranyavarma declared war on King Drupada, vowing to avenge the deception by taking Drupada’s life.
To avoid conflict, King Drupada turned to divine worship. Meanwhile, Shikhandi, devastated by the turn of events, left the palace intending to end his life in the forest. There, he encountered a Yaksha named Sthunakarna, who, moved by pity, exchanged his manhood for Shikhandi’s femininity for a stipulated period.
This is how Shikhandi, originally born a woman, became a man. Returning to his kingdom, Shikhandi reassured his parents of his transformation and provided proof of his manhood to pacify his father-in-law, Hiranyavarma. Due to a curse from Kubera, Sthunakarna remained a woman for the rest of his life, and thus Shikhandi retained his manhood permanently.
Bhishma, aware of Shikhandi’s history, refused to strike him in battle. Shikhandi was a great hero and a Maharathi among warriors. Using Shikhandi as a shield, Arjuna was able to strike down Bhishma on the last day of Bhishma’s fight, ending the career of the great warrior.
The word ‘Sarvasah’ in this verse signifies that, besides Shri Krishna, the five Pandavas, the King of Kashi, and other heroes mentioned earlier, the other Rathis, Maharathis, and Atirathis in the Pandava army also blew their conches.
स घोषो धार्तराष्ट्राणां हृदयानि व्यदारयत् |
नभश्च पृथिवीं चैव तुमुलोऽभ्यनुनादयन् || 19||
sa ghoṣho dhārtarāṣhṭrāṇāṁ hṛidayāni vyadārayat
nabhaśhcha pṛithivīṁ chaiva tumulo abhyanunādayan
saḥ—that; ghoṣhaḥ—sound; dhārtarāṣhṭrāṇām—of Dhritarashtra’s sons; hṛidayāni—hearts; vyadārayat—shattered; nabhaḥ—the sky; cha—and; pṛithivīm—the earth; cha—and; eva—certainly; tumulaḥ—terrific sound; abhyanunādayan—thundering
Translation:
And that tumult, resounding through heaven and earth, rent the hearts of Dhritarāshtra’s followers.
Having described how the heroes and warriors of the Pandava army, following the lead of Bhagavan Shri Krishna and Arjuna, blew their conches from their respective positions, Sanjaya now explains the effect produced by that sound. When the conches of all the heroes in the Pandava army were sounded simultaneously, the resulting sound was so loud, deep, and dreadful that it filled all the regions of heaven