Duryodhana names a last cluster of Pandava warriors and calls them all great chariot-warriors.
The verse closes the muster Duryodhana has been reciting to Drona: Yudhamanyu and Uttamaujas, Abhimanyu the son of Subhadra, and the five sons of Draupadi. It is easy to read past such a list, yet the line takes care to mark each of these men as no ordinary fighter.
The valiant Yudhamanyu and the brave Uttamaujas; the son of Subhadra and the sons of Draupadi. All of them are great warriors.
It comes at the end of Duryodhana's roll-call of the opposing side, completing the count of Pandava warriors he has been laying before his teacher.
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.
Hear the last names in the count: Yudhamanyu and Uttamaujas, then Subhadra's son Abhimanyu, then Draupadi's five sons, with that small 'and' gathering in still others, like Ghatotkaca.
Across Advaita, Śuddhādvaita, Bhedābheda, Bhakti, and the modern voicesNīlakaṇṭha · Dhanapati · Puruṣottama · Bhāskara · Śrīdhara · TilakIn Nīlakaṇṭha, Dhanapati, and 4 others’ words
The verse names a last cluster of warriors on the Pandava side, completing the muster that Duryodhana has been reciting to his teacher Drona. Most commentators identify them the same way: Yudhamanyu and Uttamaujas, then 'Saubhadra,' which means the son of Subhadra, that is Abhimanyu (Arjuna's son), and finally the 'Draupadeyas,' the five sons of Draupadi, beginning with Prativindhya. One commentator adds that the small connecting word 'and' (cha) is meant to sweep in still other famous Pandava sons not named outright, such as Ghatotkaca.
Not one of these is an ordinary fighter; each is a great chariot-warrior, of such strength and standing that none may be brushed aside.
Across Advaita, Śuddhādvaita, Bhakti, and the modern voicesĀnandagiri · Nīlakaṇṭha · Dhanapati · Puruṣottama · Śrīdhara · Tilak · RamsukhdasIn Ānandagiri, Nīlakaṇṭha, and 5 others’ words
Every one of these warriors is a 'maharatha,' a great chariot-warrior, and the verse stresses this of the whole group at once. The point is their power and standing: these are not ordinary fighters but men of great strength and prowess, and so none of them is to be disregarded. One modern commentator, reading these lines together with the verses just before, underlines the same force from the side of their weapons: they carry mighty bows that take great strength even to draw, and in battle they are the equals of Bhima in strength and of Arjuna in skill at arms.
And know what that rank means: one who alone withstands ten thousand bowmen, versed in weapons and in scripture, the grading the Mahabharata itself sets down.
Across Advaita, and the modern voicesNīlakaṇṭha · Dhanapati · TilakIn Nīlakaṇṭha, Dhanapati, and 1 others’ words
Several commentators pause to give the technical military rank behind the word 'maharatha.' The standard definition they cite is that a warrior who can fight ten thousand bowmen single-handed, skilled both in weapons and in scripture, is called a maharatha (great chariot-warrior); one who can fight a countless number is an 'atiratha' (super chariot-warrior); one who fights with a single opponent is a plain 'ratha' (chariot-warrior); and anything less than that is a 'half-ratha.' This was not a loose compliment but a recognized grading of warriors, and one commentator notes that the full scale is laid out in the Udyoga-parva of the Mahabharata.
When you hear 'all of them indeed,' let it land on the whole company: every one named, and every one folded in, stands in that highest rank, none lesser.
Across AdvaitaĀnandagiri · Dhanapati · NīlakaṇṭhaIn Ānandagiri, Dhanapati, and 1 others’ words
The little phrase 'all indeed' (sarva eva) is doing real work, and the commentators draw it out as the heart of the line. It insists that the whole company shares this great strength, so the listener will not dismiss any of them. One commentator even faces the objection that an earlier line seemed to rank a warrior too high, and resolves it precisely through this 'all indeed': everyone named, and everyone folded in by the word 'and,' counts as a maharatha here, with none left as a mere ratha or half-ratha.
This is the shared ground; it can be carried as it is.
Carry this with youwhat stays
Return to this verse over the coming days. Read once, it stays a phrase; sat with, it begins to settle.
Even a plain roll of names, read closely, asks us to look once more and grant each one its full weight.
Read deeper
Everything a full study holds, folded below.
Word by word
All the commentary, woven together
The commentary, woven together
machine-assisted draft, pending review
Convergence
he verse names a last cluster of warriors on the Pandava side, completing the muster that Duryodhana has been reciting to his teacher Drona. Most commentators identify them the same way: Yudhamanyu and Uttamaujas, then 'Saubhadra,' which means the son of Subhadra, that is Abhimanyu (Arjuna's son), and finally the 'Draupadeyas,' the five sons of Draupadi, beginning with Prativindhya. One commentator adds that the small connecting word 'and' (cha) is meant to sweep in still other famous Pandava sons not named outright, such as Ghatotkaca.
Braided from 6 commentators
Śrī Nīlakaṇṭha · Dhanapati Sūri · Śrī Puruṣottama · Śrī Bhāskara · Śrīdhara Svāmī · Lokmanya Tilak
Every one of these warriors is a 'maharatha,' a great chariot-warrior, and the verse stresses this of the whole group at once. The point is their power and standing: these are not ordinary fighters but men of great strength and prowess, and so none of them is to be disregarded. One modern commentator, reading these lines together with the verses just before, underlines the same force from the side of their weapons: they carry mighty bows that take great strength even to draw, and in battle they are the equals of Bhima in strength and of Arjuna in skill at arms.
Braided from 7 commentators
Śrī Ānandagiri · Śrī Nīlakaṇṭha · Dhanapati Sūri · Śrī Puruṣottama · Śrīdhara Svāmī · Lokmanya Tilak · Swami Ramsukhdas
Several commentators pause to give the technical military rank behind the word 'maharatha.' The standard definition they cite is that a warrior who can fight ten thousand bowmen single-handed, skilled both in weapons and in scripture, is called a maharatha (great chariot-warrior); one who can fight a countless number is an 'atiratha' (super chariot-warrior); one who fights with a single opponent is a plain 'ratha' (chariot-warrior); and anything less than that is a 'half-ratha.' This was not a loose compliment but a recognized grading of warriors, and one commentator notes that the full scale is laid out in the Udyoga-parva of the Mahabharata.
Śrī Nīlakaṇṭha · Dhanapati Sūri · Lokmanya Tilak
The little phrase 'all indeed' (sarva eva) is doing real work, and the commentators draw it out as the heart of the line. It insists that the whole company shares this great strength, so the listener will not dismiss any of them. One commentator even faces the objection that an earlier line seemed to rank a warrior too high, and resolves it precisely through this 'all indeed': everyone named, and everyone folded in by the word 'and,' counts as a maharatha here, with none left as a mere ratha or half-ratha.
Śrī Ānandagiri · Dhanapati Sūri · Śrī Nīlakaṇṭha
Divergence
Here the commentators are of one mind.
All the translations and commentary
Pull up a chair.
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