टीका

Commentary

This verse closes Duryodhana’s survey of the Pandava commanders with names that carry enormous emotional weight — particularly for Arjuna, who stands across the field listening. Among those named is Saubhadra — the son of Subhadra, who was Arjuna’s beloved wife and Krishna’s own sister. This is Abhimanyu, sixteen years old, already counted among the mahaarathas, the great chariot-warriors of the age.

Abhimanyu learned the art of entering the chakravyuha — the deadly spiral formation — while still in his mother’s womb, hearing Arjuna explain it to Subhadra. He never learned how to exit it, because Subhadra fell asleep before that part of the teaching. This incomplete knowledge would seal his fate later in the war. But here, at the opening, he stands counted among the greatest. A boy carrying the destiny of two great lineages — Arjuna’s and Krishna’s.

The Draupadeyaas — the five sons of Draupadi, one from each Pandava brother — are named collectively. They represent the next generation, the future that this war is being fought over. That they stand armed on this field, that children must take up weapons because their elders could not resolve their dispute through wisdom, is a quiet tragedy running beneath Duryodhana’s matter-of-fact accounting.

Yudhamanyu and Uttamauja, though less celebrated in popular retellings, were steadfast protectors of Arjuna’s chariot wheels — a post requiring extraordinary skill and unwavering courage. Their presence here, named specifically by the enemy king, tells us how formidable they were regarded.

This verse ends Duryodhana’s survey of his opponents. He has looked clearly at what stands against him, named every threat, and — without admitting fear — communicated everything to his teacher. Now he will turn to his own side.