sanjaya uvaacha
drishtwaa tu paandavaaneekam vyoodham duryodhanastadaa
aachaaryam upasamgamya raajaa vachanam abraveet // 2 //
Sanjaya said
Having seen the army of Pandavas drawn up in battle array, King Duryodhana then approached his teacher, Drona, and spoke these words.
Duryodhana was thinking all along that it might not be possible for the Pandavas to mobilize forces strong enough to face his own huge army. But what he saw on the battlefield unnerved his position and hence he rushed to his teacher and exclaimed:
pashyaitaam paanduputraanaam aacharya mahateem chamoom
vyoodhaam drupadaputrena tava shishyena dheemataa // 3 //
Behold, O Teacher, this mighty army of the sons of Pandu, arrayed by the son of Drupada, your wise disciple.
atra shooraa maheshwaasaa bheemaarjunasamaa yudhi
yuyudhaano viraatashcha drupadashcha mahaarathah // 4 //
Here are heroes, mighty archers, equal in battle to Bhima and Arjuna, Yuyudhana, Virata and Drupada, the great chariot warrior.
dhrishtaketush chekitaanah kaashiraajascha veeryavan
purujit kuntibhojashcha shaibhyashcha narapungavah // 5 //
Dhrishtaketu, Chekitana and the valiant king of Kasi, Purujit, Kuntibhoja and Saibya, the best among men.
yudhaamanyushcha vikraanta uttamaujaashcha veeryavan
saubhadro draupadeyaashcha sarva eva mahaarathaah // 6 //
The courageous Yudhamanyu, the brave Uttamauja, Saubhadra and the sons of Draupadi - all great chariot-warriors.
asmaakam tu vishishtaa ye taan nibodha dwijottama
naayakaa mama sainyasya samjnaartham taan braveemi te // 7 //
Know also, O the best among the twice born, the names of those who are most distinguished amongst ourselves, the leaders of my army. These I relate to you for your information.
bhavaan bheeshmashcha karnashcha kripashcha samitinjayah
ashwatthaamaa vikarnashcha saumadattis tathaiva cha // 8 //
Yourself and Bhishma and Karna and Kripa, the victorious in war, Aswatthama and Vikarna and Jayadratha, the son of Somadatta.
anye cha bahavah shooraa madarthe tyaktajeevitaah
naanaashastrapraharanaah sarve yuddhavishaaradaah // 9 //
And many other heroes also, well-skilled in warfare and armed with many kinds of weapons are here; ready to lay down their lives for my sake.
aparyaaptam tad asmaakam balam bheeshmaabhirakshitam
paryaaptam twidam eteshaam balam bheemaabhirakshitam // 10 //
Our army defended by Bhishma is insufficient but the army of theirs defended by Bhima is sufficient.
ayaneshu cha sarveshu yathaabhaagam avasthitaah
bheeshmam evaabhirakshantu bhavantah sarva eva hi // 11 //
Now all of you being stationed in your respective positions in the divisions of the army guard Bhishma alone by all means.
By using the words `your talented pupil' Duryodhana sarcastically told Drona that he was a mere simpleton to teach the art of warfare to the son of Drupada [Drstadyumna] who was standing before him to kill no other person than his teacher himself.
Duryodhana perceived the army of Pandavas as formidable because of his own guilty consciousness and doubts about the loyalty of his chief warriors. A list of all the names of the mighty warriors in the Pandava army was given.
Dwijottama means ‘twice born' which refers to the Brahminical background of Drona. Duryodhana implied that Drona, a Brahmin and therefore being timid by nature and given to peaceful life, might be soft towards his students no matter to whichever side they may belong to.
Receiving no response from Drona despite his long speech and to make amends for his censuring him, Duryodhana enumerated the names of the warriors of his side also exaggerating their qualities in order to look self-confident and hide his nervousness. Duryodhana felt that his army led by Bhishma was insufficient because of the latter's softness towards Pandavas and the other led by Bhima as sufficient because of its high morale and efficiency.
He ordered full protection to Bhishma from all sides and by all means not only to please him but to emphasize his important place in the entire Kaurava army. He was fully aware that once Bhishma were to be eliminated his whole edifice would collapse.