Bhagavad Gita 1.14
Spoken by Sanjaya · Verse 14 of 47
ततः श्वेतैर्हयैर्युक्ते महति स्यन्दने स्थितौ। माधवः पाण्डवश्चैव दिव्यौ शङ्खौ प्रदध्मतुः॥
tataḥ śvetair hayair yukte mahati syandane sthitau / mādhavaḥ pāṇḍavaś caiva divyau śaṅkhau pradadhmatuḥ
The divine chariot answers — Krishna and Arjuna's conches fill the sky.
Word by word (10)
- tataḥ
- — then / in response
- śvetaiḥ hayaiḥ yukte
- — yoked with white horses
- mahati syandane
- — in a magnificent chariot
- sthitau
- — standing / stationed
- mādhavaḥ
- — Krishna (descendant of Madhu / son of Madhavī) · One of Krishna's many names — 'Madhava' can mean 'lord of spring,' 'descendant of Madhu,' or 'the enchanting one.' Each name of Krishna encodes a different facet of the divine.
- pāṇḍavaḥ
- — Arjuna (son of Pandu)
- ca eva
- — and also
- divyau
- — divine / celestial
- śaṅkhau
- — two conches
- pradadhmatuḥ
- — blew / sounded (dual form — they both blew)
Then, stationed in their great chariot drawn by white horses, Krishna and Arjuna — the divine teacher and the great warrior — sounded their celestial conches in reply.
A modern analogy
In music, when one side plays fortissimo, the other responds in kind — call and response at full volume. The white horses, the celestial chariot, the divine conches: the Pandava answer is not just louder, it carries a different quality. White horses in ancient Indian tradition suggest purity and spiritual power.
Take with you
- White horses symbolize purity and righteous intent — the visual language of the Gita places the Pandavas on a morally different plane from the start.
- The divine quality of the Pandava conches ('divyau') versus the merely powerful Kaurava instruments signals where cosmic alignment lies.
- Krishna and Arjuna act together — the human and the divine, in the same chariot, sounding as one.
Public-domain translations (4) compare all →
Then, Madhava (Krishna) and the son of Pandu (Arjuna), stationed in their mighty chariot yoked with white horses, blew their divine conches. [4]
Then Krishna, and Arjuna, standing in their mighty chariot drawn by white steeds, blew their celestial conches. [6]
But then, for the other side, Madhusudhana, the Blessed Lord, and Arjuna, standing in their great white-horsed chariot, blew also their divine shells. [7]
Then, in that great car yoked with white horses, Madhava and the son of Pandu blew their celestial conches. [9]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Each warrior has a named conch — a unique voice announcing their presence to the world.
Your own mind is your best friend when mastered; your worst enemy when not.
A blind king asks what happened on the battlefield — and the Gita begins.
Arjuna sees his own people ready to die — and his body breaks before his mind can argue.
I am your student. My mind is bewildered about what is right. Teach me.
Whoever does not turn the cosmic wheel of giving — living only for sense-pleasure — lives in vain.
Verse 14 of 47 · back to Chapter 1