The Kaurava army has just produced a tumultuous sound with many instruments. Now the attention turns to the Pāṇḍava side.

The word tataḥ means “thereafter.” After the Kaurava instruments have sounded, Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna respond.

They are seated in mahati syandane, a great chariot. This is not an ordinary chariot. It is a special, celestial chariot belonging to Arjuna. The verse presents it as grand and extraordinary.

The chariot is śvetaiḥ hayaiḥ yukte — yoked with white horses. The white colour is significant. In traditional symbolism, white is associated with knowledge and sattva. Sarasvatī Devī, who represents knowledge, is described in white. Sattva, which is connected with clarity and knowledge, is also represented by white.

The chariot also recalls the famous chariot imagery from the Kaṭhopaniṣad. There, the body is compared to a chariot, the sense organs to horses, the mind to the reins, and the intellect to the charioteer. Horses represent the sense organs, and sense organs are connected with knowledge because they are instruments through which we gather knowledge. Here the horses are white, suggesting clarity, knowledge, and sattvic discipline.

On this chariot sit two people: Mādhavaḥ and Pāṇḍavaḥ. Mādhavaḥ means Kṛṣṇa. The word may be understood as the Lord of Mā, where Mā represents Lakṣmī, power, or knowledge. In this context, Kṛṣṇa is Bhagavān endowed with the wealth of knowledge, the knowledge that He will later teach to Arjuna.

Pāṇḍavaḥ here refers specifically to Arjuna. At this moment, Arjuna is the warrior and master of the chariot, while Kṛṣṇa has taken the humble role of charioteer. Later, the spiritual roles will reverse: Arjuna will become the disciple, and Kṛṣṇa will become the teacher.

They blow divyau śaṅkhau, their two divine conches. The conches are not ordinary instruments. They are divine. By blowing them, Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna indicate that the Pāṇḍava side is also ready for battle.

This shloka gives a clear contrast to the previous one. The Kaurava side produced a tumultuous, disorderly mass of sound. Here, the Pāṇḍava response begins with Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna seated together in a great chariot drawn by white horses and blowing divine conches. The picture is more orderly, luminous, and purposeful. The battlefield sound now begins to show the difference between the two sides.