Arjuna asks to see the warriors who have come, resolved, to fight for Duryodhana.
He wants to look upon the men set on battle, not men hoping for peace. The commentators read the verse as quietly answering an objection: one might expect these kinsmen to reconcile rather than go to war, and Arjuna's own request shows that they have, in fact, come resolved to fight.
I wish to see those gathered here to fight, eager to please in battle the evil-minded son of Dhritarashtra.
Having asked his charioteer to halt the chariot between the two armies, Arjuna now states what he means to do there: survey the opponents who have gathered, and so confirm that there really are warriors to be looked upon.
Where they agreethe convergence
Across schools and centuries the commentators come to the same ground. These are the points they share, and the voices that hold each one.
You ask to look upon the warriors gathered here, the men resolved on battle; whatever hope of peace there was, they have come ready to fight.
Across Advaita, and the modern voicesĀnandagiri · Madhusūdana · Nīlakaṇṭha · Dhanapati · RamsukhdasIn Ānandagiri, Madhusūdana, and 3 others’ words
Arjuna asks to look upon the warriors who have gathered here to fight. The Sanskrit word he uses, 'yotsyamanan', means 'those who are about to fight', and the commentators stress this active sense: he wants to see the men who are set on battle, not men who have come hoping for peace. Reading the verse against the flow of the dialogue, several commentators frame it as an implicit answer to an objection. One might expect these kinsmen, Bhishma, Drona and the rest, to make peace with one another rather than go to war; Arjuna's own request shows that they have, in fact, come resolved to fight. So the verse establishes that there really are opponents to be surveyed.
They have come for Duryodhana's sake, to do what pleases him in war; even without their own quarrel with you, his cause sets them against you.
Across Advaita, Śuddhādvaita, Bhakti, and the modern voicesĀnandagiri · Madhusūdana · Nīlakaṇṭha · Dhanapati · Puruṣottama · Śrīdhara · TilakIn Ānandagiri, Madhusūdana, and 5 others’ words
These warriors have assembled for Duryodhana's sake. The verse calls him 'dhartarashtra', the son of Dhritarashtra, and 'durbuddhi', a man 'of evil mind' or bad judgment. The phrase 'priya-chikirshavah' means 'wishing to do what is dear or pleasing' to him. The commentators agree that the kings have come precisely to please Duryodhana in battle, and that this is what makes them opponents: even where there was no prior personal enmity with the Pandavas, taking Duryodhana's side puts them on the field against them. Their hostility is thus by association, attached to the cause they have adopted.
To call him evil-minded is to see that he mistakes war for his own good; backing him in this strengthens his bad judgment rather than turning him from it.
Across Advaita, and the modern voicesĀnandagiri · Madhusūdana · Nīlakaṇṭha · Dhanapati · RamsukhdasIn Ānandagiri, Madhusūdana, and 3 others’ words
The word 'durbuddhi', evil-minded, is read as carrying a pointed charge. Some commentators take it to mean that Duryodhana does not understand the means of his own protection or true welfare, making the effort for war when peace would have served him. On this reading the kings compound the fault: instead of correcting his bad judgment, which would be the real kindness, they strengthen it by fighting for him, and so they are marked as being of his kind. Their wish to 'please' him is therefore not friendship at all but a push toward his ruin.
This is the shared ground; it can be carried as it is.
A few questions to carry
These ask for understanding, not recall; each answer is settled by the commentary itself.
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Carry this with youwhat stays
There is a quiet teaching here about what it really means to wish someone well. The kings think they are doing Duryodhana a kindness by helping him fight, but Ramsukhdas points out that true friendship lies in counseling a person toward what is genuinely good for him, here and hereafter, not in feeding his worst impulse. The real friend would have said, keep your half of the kingdom and give the Pandavas theirs; that would have secured both the kingdom and Duryodhana's future. To strengthen another's evil mind, even out of loyalty, is to desire his downfall while imagining you love him. When we are tempted to back someone simply because they are ours, this verse asks us to look again, and to consider whether our 'help' is leading toward their welfare or toward their ruin.
When you are tempted to back someone simply because they are yours, look again, and ask whether your help is leading toward their welfare or toward their ruin.
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Convergence
rjuna asks to look upon the warriors who have gathered here to fight. The Sanskrit word he uses, 'yotsyamanan', means 'those who are about to fight', and the commentators stress this active sense: he wants to see the men who are set on battle, not men who have come hoping for peace. Reading the verse against the flow of the dialogue, several commentators frame it as an implicit answer to an objection. One might expect these kinsmen, Bhishma, Drona and the rest, to make peace with one another rather than go to war; Arjuna's own request shows that they have, in fact, come resolved to fight. So the verse establishes that there really are opponents to be surveyed.
Śrī Ānandagiri · Madhusūdana Sarasvatī · Śrī Nīlakaṇṭha · Dhanapati Sūri · Swami Ramsukhdas
These warriors have assembled for Duryodhana's sake. The verse calls him 'dhartarashtra', the son of Dhritarashtra, and 'durbuddhi', a man 'of evil mind' or bad judgment. The phrase 'priya-chikirshavah' means 'wishing to do what is dear or pleasing' to him. The commentators agree that the kings have come precisely to please Duryodhana in battle, and that this is what makes them opponents: even where there was no prior personal enmity with the Pandavas, taking Duryodhana's side puts them on the field against them. Their hostility is thus by association, attached to the cause they have adopted.
Braided from 7 commentators
Śrī Ānandagiri · Madhusūdana Sarasvatī · Śrī Nīlakaṇṭha · Dhanapati Sūri · Śrī Puruṣottama · Śrīdhara Svāmī · Lokmanya Tilak
The word 'durbuddhi', evil-minded, is read as carrying a pointed charge. Some commentators take it to mean that Duryodhana does not understand the means of his own protection or true welfare, making the effort for war when peace would have served him. On this reading the kings compound the fault: instead of correcting his bad judgment, which would be the real kindness, they strengthen it by fighting for him, and so they are marked as being of his kind. Their wish to 'please' him is therefore not friendship at all but a push toward his ruin.
Śrī Ānandagiri · Madhusūdana Sarasvatī · Śrī Nīlakaṇṭha · Dhanapati Sūri · Swami Ramsukhdas
Divergence
Here the commentators are of one mind.
A Seeker Asks
Why does Arjuna, who is about to break down, call Duryodhana 'evil-minded' and speak so firmly of opponents, as if he were still confident and ready to fight?
At this moment in the verse Arjuna is still in the posture of a warrior surveying the field, so his words are framed accordingly. The force of 'yotsyamanan', those about to fight, is that he sees men whose desire for war is strong, and he wants to see who, exactly, these men are. He is naming the situation as it stands: real combatants, gathered and resolved.
Śrī Ānandagiri · Madhusūdana Sarasvatī · Swami Ramsukhdas
The sharpness of the word 'durbuddhi', evil-minded, belongs to Arjuna's grievance, which the commentators spell out: Duryodhana has long schemed to destroy the Pandavas and to deny them even the half of the kingdom that is rightfully theirs. So the firm tone is not yet doubt; it is the settled judgment of a man who believes those backing an unjust cause cannot stand and will be destroyed. The collapse that follows comes only when his gaze, asked for here, actually falls on the faces of his own kinsmen among them.
Swami Ramsukhdas · Dhanapati Sūri
Contemplation
There is a quiet teaching here about what it really means to wish someone well. The kings think they are doing Duryodhana a kindness by helping him fight, but Ramsukhdas points out that true friendship lies in counseling a person toward what is genuinely good for him, here and hereafter, not in feeding his worst impulse. The real friend would have said, keep your half of the kingdom and give the Pandavas theirs; that would have secured both the kingdom and Duryodhana's future. To strengthen another's evil mind, even out of loyalty, is to desire his downfall while imagining you love him. When we are tempted to back someone simply because they are ours, this verse asks us to look again, and to consider whether our 'help' is leading toward their welfare or toward their ruin.
Sit with this · Swami Ramsukhdas
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