Bhagavad Gita 1.12
Spoken by Sanjaya · Verse 12 of 47
तस्य सञ्जनयन् हर्षं कुरुवृद्धः पितामहः। सिंहनादं विनद्योच्चैः शङ्खं दध्मौ प्रतापवान्॥
tasya sañjanayan harṣaṃ kuruvṛddhaḥ pitāmahaḥ / siṃhanādaṃ vinadyoccaiḥ śaṅkhaṃ dadhmau pratāpavān
A grandfather blows his conch to lift a grandson's spirits — love and war entangled.
Word by word (9)
- tasya
- — his (Duryodhana's)
- sañjanayan harṣam
- — to raise his spirits / to cause joy in him · Bhishma's act is explicitly to cheer Duryodhana — not a battle cry, but a gesture of emotional support from grandfather to grandson.
- kuru-vṛddhaḥ
- — the eldest of the Kuru clan / the grandsire
- pitāmahaḥ
- — grandsire / grandfather (literally 'father's father')
- siṃha-nādam
- — lion's roar
- vinadya uccaiḥ
- — sounding loudly / roaring aloud
- śaṅkham
- — conch shell
- dadhmau
- — blew / sounded
- pratāpavān
- — the powerful / the glorious one
The grandsire Bhishma — the eldest and mightiest of the Kuru clan — wanting to cheer up the worried Duryodhana, blew his conch shell with a sound like a lion's roar.
A modern analogy
A father, sensing his adult son's nervousness before a major presentation, gives him a firm pat on the back and says, loudly enough for the whole room to hear: 'We've got this.' Bhishma's conch is that gesture — amplified to battlefield scale. It is not military strategy. It is emotional support.
Take with you
- Even the greatest warriors feel the weight of those they love watching — and watching them.
- An act of encouragement before a challenge often matters more than additional preparation.
- Bhishma blows his conch 'to cheer Duryodhana' — the grandsire sees the young man's anxiety and responds with presence, not strategy.
Public-domain translations (4) compare all →
Then the grandsire (Bhishma), the oldest of the Kurus, in order to cheer Duryodhana, blew his conch, sounding loudly like a lion's roar. [4]
Then the grandsire, the ancient Kuru chief, to cheer Duryodhana, blew his conch aloud, and the sound was like a lion's roar. [6]
Then the aged Kuru chief, his grandsire, meaning to cheer Duryodhana, blew his conch, and the peal went rolling, lion-like. [7]
Then the grandsire — the most venerable of the Kurus — to cheer Duryodhana, loudly sounded a conch, with a sound like a lion's roar. [9]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
The battlefield erupts into sound — and the point of no return passes.
The divine chariot answers — Krishna and Arjuna's conches fill the sky.
Duryodhana catalogues the Pandava heroes — naming his fears, one by one.
The sound of righteous forces pierces the hearts of those who know they are on the wrong side.
Cast off this petty weakness of heart — rise. This is not who you are.
Yoga is the disconnection from suffering — practise it with firm resolve and a mind that does not despond.
Verse 12 of 47 · back to Chapter 1