tataha shvetair hayair yukte mahati syandane sthitau |
maadhavaha paandavaschaiva divyau shankau pradadhmatau || 14 ||
And then, seated on a magnificent chariot harnessed to white horses, Shri Krishna and Arjuna blew their divine conches.
tataha : thereafter
cha eva: both
maadhavaha : Shri Krishna
paandavaha : Arjun
sthitau : situated
mahati syandane: on a magnificent chariot
yukte: harnessed
shvetaiha : by white
hayaiha: horses
pradadhmatuha: resounded
saha: their
divyau: divine
shankhau: conches
With this verse, we are introduced to the key figures in the Bhagavad Gita, as we leave behind Duryodhana and the Kaurava army. Lord Krishna was a divine incarnation or an avatara, and Arjuna was one of the five Pandava princes. Arjuna was considered the most skillful archer and warrior of his time. Shri Krishna was a close friend of Arjuna, and offered to be his charioteer for the Mahabharata war.
Many commentaries offer a lot of background from the Mahabharata in order to describe the grandeur of Arjuna's chariot. It was a robust chariot, endowed with several divine powers. A key feature of the chariot was a flag in which Lord Hanumaan had entered in the form of an emblem. Therefore it is said that Lord Hanumaan was one of the few individuals to hear the Gita firsthand.
The prior verses served to paint a picture of the Kaurava army, that was ready to engage in conflict with the Pandavas. As we move further into the text, the perspective shifts from Duryodhana's viewpoint to Arjuna's.
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