Chapter 1Verse 15 of 47

Bhagavad Gita 1.15

पाञ्चजन्यं हृषीकेशो देवदत्तं धनञ्जयः । पौण्ड्रं दध्मौ महाशङ्खं भीमकर्मा वृकोदरः ॥

pāñcajanyaṃ hṛṣīkeśo devadattaṃ dhanañjayaḥ | pauṇḍraṃ dadhmau mahā-śaṅkhaṃ bhīma-karmā vṛkodaraḥ ||

Translation

Hrishikesha blew the Panchajanya; Dhananjaya, the Devadatta; and Vrikodara, of fearful deeds, blew the great conch Paundra.

Each conch has a name. Panchajanya, made from the demon Krishna killed. Devadatta, god-given. Paundra, named for its bearer's strength. The named instrument carries the story of how it came to be held. The conches the Kauravas blew in 1.13 had no names; they were drums and trumpets, plural and generic. Things you choose to use, that have histories you can recite, sound different from things you grab off a rack. Carry the named instrument when you walk in.

Reflection

What do you reach for when it gets hard, and where did it come from?

Read this verse in its chapter: Chapter One

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