pancajanyam hrsikeso devadattam dhananjayah
paundram dadhmau maha-sankham bhima-karma vrkodarah

SYNONYMS

pancajanyam--the conchshell named Pancajanya; hrsika-isah--Hrsikesa (Krsna, the Lord who directs the senses of the devotees); devadattam--the conchshell named Devadatta; dhanam-jayah--Dhananjaya (Arjuna, the winner of wealth); paundram--the conch named Paundra; dadhmau--blew; maha-sankham--the terrific conchshell; bhima-karma--one who performs herculean tasks; vrka-udarah--the voracious eater (Bhima).
TRANSLATION

Then, Lord Krsna blew His conchshell, called Pancajanya; Arjuna blew his, the Devadatta; and Bhima, the voracious eater and performer of Herculean tasks, blew his terrific conchshell called Paundram.
PURPORT

Lord Krsna is referred to as Hrsikesa in this verse because He is the owner of all senses. The living entities are part and parcel of Him, and, therefore, the senses of the living entities are also part and parcel of His senses. The impersonalists cannot account for the senses of the living entities, and therefore they are always anxious to describe all living entities as sense-less, or impersonal. The Lord, situated in the hearts of all living entities, directs their senses. But, He directs in terms of the surrender of the living entity, and in the case of a pure devotee He directly controls the senses. Here on the Battlefield of Kuruksetra the Lord directly controls the transcendental senses of Arjuna, and thus His particular name of Hrsikesa. The Lord has different names according to His different activities. For example, His name is Madhusudana because He killed the demon of the name Madhu; His name is Govinda because He gives pleasure to the cows and to the senses; His name is Vasudeva because He appeared as the son of Vasudeva; His name is Devaki-nandana because He accepted Devaki as His mother; His name is Yasoda-nandana because He awarded His childhood pastimes to Yasoda at Vrndavana; His name is Partha-sarathi because He worked as charioteer of His friend Arjuna. Similarly, His name is Hrsikesa because He gave direction to Arjuna on the Battlefield of Kuruksetra.
Arjuna is referred to as Dhananjaya in this verse because he helped his elder brother in fetching wealth when it was required by the king to make expenditures for different sacrifices. Similarly, Bhima is known as Vrkodara because he could eat as voraciously as he could perform herculean tasks, such as killing the demon Hidimba. So, the particular types of conchshell blown by the different personalities on the side of the Pandavas, beginning with the Lord's, were all very encouraging to the fighting soldiers. On the other side there were no such credits, nor the presence of Lord Krsna, the supreme director, nor that of the goddess of fortune. So, they were predestined to lose the battle--and that was the message announced by the sounds of the conchshells.

anantavijayam raja kunti-putro yudhisthirah
nakulah sahadevas ca sughosa-manipuspakau

kasyas ca paramesv-asah sikhandi ca maha-rathah
dhrstadyumno viratas ca satyakis caparajitah

drupado draupadeyas ca sarvasah prthivi-pate
saubhadras ca maha-bahuh sankhan dadhmuh prthak prthak

SYNONYMS

ananta-vijayam--the conch named Ananta-vijaya; raja--the king; kunti-putrah--the son of Kunti; yudhisthirah--Yudhisthira; nakulah--Nakula; sahadevah--Sahadeva; ca--and; sughosa-manipuspakau--the conches named Sughosa and Manipuspaka; kasyah--the King of Kasi (Varanasi); ca--and; parama-isu-asah--the great archer; sikhandi--Sikhandi; ca--also; maha-rathah--one who can fight alone against thousands; dhrstadyumnah--Dhrstadyumna (the son of King Drupada); viratah--Virata (the prince who gave shelter to the Pandavas while they were in disguise); ca--also; satyakih--Satyaki (the same as Yuyudhana, the charioteer of Lord Krsna); ca--and; aparajitah--who were never vanquished before; drupadah--Drupada, the King of Pancala; draupadeyah--the sons of Draupadi; ca--also; sarvasah--all; prthivi-pate--O King; saubhadrah--the son of Subhadra (Abhimanyu); ca--also; maha-bahuh--mighty-armed; sankhan--conchshells; dadhmuh--blew; prthak prthak--each separately.
TRANSLATION

King Yudhisthira, the son of Kunti, blew his conchshell, the Ananta-vijaya, and Nakula and Sahadeva blew the Sughosa and Manipuspaka. That great archer the King of Kasi, the great fighter Sikhandi, Dhrstadyumna, Virata and the unconquerable Satyaki, Drupada, the sons of Draupadi, and the others, O King, such as the son of Subhadra, greatly armed, all blew their respective conchshells.
PURPORT

Sanjaya informed King Dhrtarastra very tactfully that his unwise policy of deceiving the sons of Pandu and endeavoring to enthrone his own sons on the seat of the kingdom was not very laudable. The signs already clearly indicated that the whole Kuru dynasty would be killed in that great battle. Beginning with the grandsire, Bhisma, down to the grandsons like Abhimanyu and others--including kings from many states of the world--all were present there, and all were doomed. The whole catastrophe was due to King Dhrtarastra, because he encouraged the policy followed by his sons.