Chapter 1, Verses 15-16
pāñcajanyaṁ hṛṣikeśo
devadattam dhananjayaḥ
paundram dadhmau mahā-śankham bhima-karmā vṛkodaraḥ ananta-vijayam rājā
kunti-putro yudhisthiraḥ
nakulah sahadevaśca
sughosa mani-puspakau
Sri Krishna blew his conch, Panchajanya, Arjuna blew his, named Devadatta; and Bhima of terrible deeds, blew the great conch, Paundra. King Yudhishtir the son of Kunti, blew his conch Ananta-vijaya, and Nakul and Sahadev blew their conches, Sughosha and Mani-pushpaka.
pañcajanyar hrşikeśo: here Krishna was referred to as hrsikeśo which means the senses, and the Lord, the controller. Hrṣikeso is next to the word pañcajanyaṁ.
Pañcajanyaṁ was a demon who had the form of a conch. Pancha means five, the five senses. Pañcajanyam hṛṣikeso means, "You, the controller of the five senses, who is the repository of joy, happiness and power, who is the power that accompanies one in one's life." He is not just the controller of the senses. He is the One who accompanies each one in life. He is the One who gives joy to life. He is the One who our joy stands on. Hrṣikeso is also translated as 'the curly-haired one' or 'the short-haired one'. Krishna's conch was called pancajanyam, victory over the five senses.
The conch of Arjuna was called devadatta, "given by the gods." This conch that Arjuna blew was given to him by Indra. In this verse, Arjuna was referred to as dhananjayaḥ - the winner among all kings, the winner of all competitions. Arjuna represents unflinching devotion and surrender. He was mighty, wise, and knowledgeable.
"Bhima of terrible deeds, the great conch Paundra," Bhima was sometimes terrible in his deeds. Whenever people heard of him, they had fear inside of their hearts. They got scared just hearing of Bhima. 'Bhima' means somebody who possesses extraordinary power. Bhima also stands for trustfulness and transparency, Bhima could eat a lot of food and digest anything - that's why
he was called vṛkodaraḥ. His conch was huge and very powerful. When it was blowing, everything around started vibrating and this struck fear in people. That's why the conch was called paundraṁ. "King Yudhishtir, the son of Kunti, blew his conch Ananta vijaya..." It is very important to note that in this verse, Sanjaya referred to Yudhishtir as the son of Kunti. He separated the three sons of Kunti and the two sons of Madri. All of them were Pandavas, yet Nakul and Sahadev were from Madri, the second
wife of Pandu. Pandu represents the pathfinder, able to guide, able to open ways. The name itself means that one has a great desire for order; one is cooperative, sympathetic to others, able to balance and to adapt. All five Pandava brothers possessed these qualities. Yudhishtir represents all that is righteous, merciful, charitable, and just, in man. Nakul represents focus, patience, unconditional love, respect and success. Sahadev represents joy, helpfulness and kindness. The five Pandavas were the manifestation of Lord Krishna Himself. The head of Lord Krishna was Yudhishtir; the body was Bhima; the heart was Arjuna; the hands were Nakul; the feet were Sahadev. That is why, later on, in another chapter, Lord Krishna explained to Arjuna that their relationship was not just for this lifetime; it always was, from time immemorial. Every time He came, Arjuna always came. Krishna said, "You don't remember, but I do remember everything!"
Anta-vijayam raja- here Sanjaya was addressing Yudhishtir as 'king. During the war, Yudhishtir didn't have any kingdom because Indraprastha had been taken by the Kauravas. But here Sanjaya said, "King Yudhishtir blew his conch. He was the righteous king. He will be the king!" He was reminding Dhritarashtra that Yudhishtir had all the qualities in his body that a king possessed. Nakul and Sahadev also now blew their conches announcing that the war was to start.
Bhagavad Gita
