Then, in the great chariot yoked with white horses, stood Mādhava and the Pāṇḍava, and they blew their divine conchshells

The Pāṇḍava response is majestic and symmetrical. The white horses (śveta) contradict traditional yuddha-śāstra, which recommends horses of varied colors to confuse the enemy. But the Pāṇḍavas need no deception; their strength is ethical.

Mādhava is Kṛṣṇa (descendant of Madhu); Pāṇḍava is Arjuna. The poetic dualism presents them as a unity. Their conchshells are divyau (divine, celestial) — not mere instruments of war, but bearers of sacred vibration.

The chariot (mahati syandane) is the same one that will be described in detail in the first chapter: with Kṛṣṇa as charioteer and Arjuna as archer.