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Chapter 1

Bhagavad-gītā 1.13

Read once with your eyes. Read again aloud.

ततः शङ्खाश्च भेर्यश्च पणवानकगोमुखाः। सहसैवाभ्यहन्यन्त स शब्दस्तुमुलोऽभवत्।।1.13।।

tataḥ śhaṅkhāśhcha bheryaśhcha paṇavānaka-gomukhāḥ sahasaivābhyahanyanta sa śhabdastumulo ’bhavat

Verse translation

Then following Bhishma, conches and kettle-drums, tabors, trumpets and cowhorns blared forth suddenly from the Kaurava side and the noise was tremendous.

English rendering by Swami Swarupananda. Public domain first edition, 1909.

Decision on the field for Bhagavad-gītā 1.13Courage, conflict and the duty to choose. This composition is unique to Bhagavad-gītā 1.13 and uses the verse's key terms.1tataḥ2sahasā3abhavatBhagavad-gītā 1.13
Decision on the fieldCourage, conflict and the duty to choose
Word by word

Build the sentence from its parts

Read across once, then cover the meanings and recover them from the Sanskrit forms.

14word links
Sanskrit formMeaning here
tataḥthereafter
śhaṅkhāḥconches
chaand
bheryaḥbugles
chaand
paṇava-ānakadrums and kettledrums
go-mukhāḥtrumpets
sahasāsuddenly
evaindeed
abhyahanyantablared forth
saḥthat
śhabdaḥsound
tumulaḥoverwhelming
abhavatwas
Explanation and elucidation

Use the word map to follow the relation among tataḥ (thereafter), sahasā (suddenly), and abhavat (was). Ask what changes between the first and last term, and how that movement contributes to the crisis that opens the teaching. State the connection in your own words, then check it against Bhagavad-gita 1.13.

Original school explanation. Written independently from the Sanskrit word map. It is not a quotation, translation, or summary of a named modern commentary. Chapter lens: Map the battlefield, speakers, relationships and Arjuna’s reasons before reading later answers backward into the crisis.

Gaudiya study and reading shelf

Five careful reading routes

Rights-aware references

The cards below are reading references, not claims about what an acharya says in this verse. Modern wording stays inside authorized editions. Classical commentary will appear only after an independent translation has passed scholarly and rights review.

A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

Bhagavad-gita As It Is
Modern protected edition

For Bhagavad-gita 1.13, consult the authorized BBT edition. No purport, translation, or author-attributed summary is reproduced here.

Find the authorized edition

Bhaktivinoda Thakura

Rasika-ranjana
Classical original-language work

A verified independent rendering for Bhagavad-gita 1.13 has not yet passed scholarly and rights review. Modern translations are not copied here.

Independent rendering pending review

Baladeva Vidyabhushana

Gita-bhushana-bhashya
Public-domain Sanskrit original

The original work is classical. A newly commissioned or independently prepared translation for Bhagavad-gita 1.13 must be verified before publication.

Independent translation pending review

Vishvanatha Cakravarti Thakura

Sarartha-varshini-tika
Public-domain Sanskrit original

The original work is classical. A newly commissioned or independently prepared translation for Bhagavad-gita 1.13 must be verified before publication.

Independent translation pending review

Other Gaudiya acharyas

Authorized Gaudiya editions
Mixed rights status

For Bhagavad-gita 1.13, later teachers remain a further-reading route. Their wording and distinctive teaching structures require permission or a separate rights review.

Use an authorized edition
Diagram

Meaning map

Flow chart

Follow the thought

  1. 1

    Then following Bhishma, conches and kettle-drums, tabors, trumpets and cowhorns blared forth suddenly from the Kaurava side and the noise was tremendous

  2. 2

    tataḥ: thereafter

  3. 3

    sahasā: suddenly

Decision on the field for Bhagavad-gītā 1.13Courage, conflict and the duty to choose. This composition is unique to Bhagavad-gītā 1.13 and uses the verse's key terms.1tataḥ2sahasā3abhavatBhagavad-gītā 1.13
Decision on the fieldCourage, conflict and the duty to choose
Easy way to remember

Look, link, cover, teach

1

Look

Picture the battlefield.

2

Link

Use the line starts: tataḥ śhaṅkhāśhcha / sahasaivābhyahanyanta sa.

3

Cover

Hide the verse and rebuild one line at a time.

4

Teach

Explain the flow to another person without looking.

Keep what you learned

Turn this reading into a study record

Save it, return from memory, and write one idea in your own words. Your record stays in this browser unless you export it.

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A simple learning rhythm

Do more than reread

  1. 1ReadTake in one small piece.
  2. 2RememberClose it and bring it back.
  3. 3UseConnect it to a real choice.
  4. 4ExplainSay it clearly in your own words.
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