Shrimad Bhagwad Geeta Shlok Blog-4
Shlok-4
अत्र शूरा महेष्वासा भीमार्जुनसमा युधि । युयुधानो विराटश्च द्रुपदश्च महारथः ॥ १-४ ||
Hindi Transcription
Atra Shoora Maheshwaasa Bheemarjunsamaa Yudhi | Yuyudhaano Viraatashrach Mahaarathah || 1-4 ||
Hindi Translation
Itne Bade Bade Shoorveer Yoddha Hain inke pass. Bade wale Dhanush baan, hazaaron ki fauj or sab ek se ek samajhdaar or takatvar hain. Itni badi fauz hai ki saare shoorveer yoddha jinka naam humlog sun or soch sakte hai, wo sab hain yaha.
Meaning
In the previous Shloka, we saw how Duryodhan went up to his teacher, friend, and advisor, Guru Dronacharya, and told him that he needed his help. He wanted to give an explanation of the Pandavas camp so that Guru Dronacharya can make an informed decision, and in this case, in Duryodhan’s favor. Duryodhan was already partly baffled by the thought that when he had already rejected Lord Krishna and taken up all his army that he had made over the years, then how could he actually create a huge army of even bigger numbers after his previous army was taken away by Duryodhan himself. He was a little envious of the same as well because he knew there was something at play and he was unaware of it. There was proper coordination between all the Pandava army people. They were listening to each other. They were making strategies together and they were even finding time to support each other in their downtime during a pressure situation like war. He was not sure how this comradery was possible in just a span of few weeks when he had an army that was together for years and yet there is so much of an opinion difference. He couldn’t fathom the fact that his own army was not making space for his ideas and yet, they were fighting on the smallest and the most trivial matters, showing how poor their strategic skills are. This needed to be tamed and the only one who could do this will be Guru Dronacharya, the man who taught the entire kingdom to hold up their empire without fail.
This was exactly why Duryodhan made sure that he appeared even more panicked than he was and more accurate than ever in notifying Guru Dronacharya about everything he knew about the Pandavas. He wasn’t sure if he was doing it the right way or not, but he was sure that there was no other way at finding out.
Duryodhan kept describing the outer lies of the Pandava camp to paint a picture and then he came up with terms to describe the might and the strength the Pandava camp was harboring. He talked about the big bows and arrows that were mounted on a frame and the frames being mounted on multiple stands. He described how each of the army men in the Pandava camp took their part of the work seriously and they had erected the stands within one go. He also told me how big these stands were and how heavy they were to lift, even when coordinated properly. He explained how these men were able to take motivation from getting things done and how they would look ahead to make more of their strategies and decisions on the battlefield come into effect. He notified that even if he wasn’t on the Pandava camp or he didn’t even send any of his spies in, even if he wanted, he was sure that whatever he saw was worth creating a nightmare for the Kaurava army, considering the fact that these people are not even coordinated, leave alone strategized.
Duryodhan felt like a child, complaining about the adversities of his army in front of his teacher who trained him to run an army but was sounding not just helpless but also a little desperate to say anything that would convince Guru Dronacharya to take the side of the Kauravas. He mentioned that these men in the Pandava army were not seeming like normal, everyday army men. Each one of them was looking like they had the immense power and physical strength of Bheem, the most powerful Pandava brother, and the brains of Arjun, the most focused Pandava brother. He also mentioned that each of the soldiers looked like they carried the intellect of Nakul, the most experienced Pandava brothers, and the execution strategy of Sahdev, the most experienced Pandava brothers. Last but not least, each of the soldiers still had control over themselves and their teams as if they were trained by Yudhishthir, the seniormost Pandava brother, famous for his coordinated and visionary approach using logic and guidelines rather than using tactics for shortcut victory route.
Duryodhan could still see that his attempt was not working exactly and even if he was saying a lot, it seemed as if it was only his side of the story and his desperation to win. So he needed a tone change and also a source of motivation for Guru Dronacharya to find a reason to fight the Pandavas. Now, this was a dilemma for the Kauravas because Duryodhan had an inkling of the fact that even if Guru Dronacharya would be convinced that he should select a side to win, he will not be able to do that because both sides will have his own students. Picking one side or sidelining the other will mean the devastation of his own knowledge against his own knowledge. This will only lead to destruction, and an even bigger loss will be of Guru Dronacharya’s education. If a teacher needs to fight one of his students to prove the other one is right, then the teacher also needs a re-education. This is exactly why Duryodhan shifted from giving random information proving his desperation to providing fuel for the fire of revenge in Guru Dronacharya’s mind.
Duryodhan started with the first name of Yuyudhan. When Arjun was bidding goodbye to Guru Dronacharya’s ashram after completing his education, Guru Dronacharya was highly impressed with Arjun’s adaptability and skills. Therefore, as a customary blessing, Guru Dronacharya said to Arjun that he will be the greatest warrior ever and Guru Dronacharya will himself keep in mind that if there is anyone who can come near Arjun also, he himself will act as a shield for Arjun. This blessing was Arjun’s boon. So, after Arjun came back from the Ashram, he felt like distributing his skills to some worthy students and also building their own army. So, Arjun started training some people with the knowledge he had received at the Ashram of Guru Dronacharya. Yuyudhan was one of those people and he went off to be the brightest of Arjun’s batch. He was a warrior in the army of Lord Krishna. But when Lord Krishna gave up his army, (he called his army Narayani Sena, the army of Narayan), Yuyudhan chose to stay back with Arjun and support the Pandavas. This already did not go well with the Kauravas and Duryodhan thought if he mentioned the name of Arjun and twist things in a manner saying that since Guru Dronacharya blessed Arjun, so now he has prepared one more monster like himself, this will make Guru Dronacharya’s mind want to take revenge and ground Arjun’s pride with a huge defeat.
Duryodhan was sure that if he proved his innocence after the trick of Yuyudhan, he will definitely be able to take in Guru Dronacharya at his side, by manipulating him and not even looking like manipulation. This is why, the next name he took was of King Viraat, a far-fetched friend of Pandavas and the king who had a tough yet victorious war against Guru Dronacharya, owing to his own smartness and greatness.
King Virat was in a war-like situation with Kaurava Susharma over a huge herd of cows and cattle. The situation had escalated beyond control and there was a sure-shot possibility of King Virat losing if he didn’t play any trick up his sleeve. He was blessed with a Sammohan Power (the power of attraction and seduction, also known as modern-day Hypnosis) and he knew that the only person who can demotivate Susharma from waging a full-blown attack was Guru Dronacharya. So King Viraat smartly played the arrow of Summohan towards Guru Dronacharya, with the motive of making him take back Susharma. It exactly happened the same way because Susharma was a great warrior and a respected student of Guru Dronacharya and hence, he could not deny the love-filled request of taking back the army. This way, King Viraat was victorious over Guru Dronacharya. Duryodhan knew this and was sure that fuelling the fire of revenge in Guru Dronacharya for King Viraat, who sided with his friends Pandavas, will be the best move to bring down his enemies. He knew that King Viraat had joined the Pandava army along with the army of his three sons, Uttar, Shwet, and Shankh.
Duryodhan made sure that he took only those names first which would make Guru Dronacharya accept his offer of joining the Kauravas army first. He knew that taking the name of Drupaad again after taking the name of Drupad’s son first will make Guru Dronacharya suspicious of Duryodhan’s efforts to manipulate him. So Duryodhan used the name of Drupad’s son first in the beginning, as we have also known in the previous Shloka and then he took the name of Yuyudhan and then he mentioned King Viraat. Now, when he knew his words were adding up and making a little sense, he dropped in the name of King Drupad, about whom we had already discussed earlier. He had created a son to send in Hastinapur and kill Guru Dronacharya after learning everything from him. Although Drishtadhyumna couldn’t muster the courage to kill Dronacharya, he had already joined the Pandava army to eliminate Kauravas now. Similarly, King Drupad also had hatred towards the rulers of Hastinapur and when he knew that he had a chance to finally oust the Kauravas, he too joined in with the Pandavas. This can also be deduced from the fact that the enemies of enemies become best friends. King Drupad had no affinity towards the Pandavas if they win, they will be rulers of Hatinapur and again, he will be left with nothing. But while joining hands with the Pandava army, he rather focused on the fact that he would at least try to eliminate one target (Kauravas) first, and then he will deal with the second problem at hand then. Duryodhan also knew the fact that King Drupad and Guru Dronacharya were friends even before they became King and Guru. Although, since the time Drupad became King Drupad, he gained some attitude and was soaking in his power. This was when one day Guru Dronacharya, while in the quest for his knowledge was roaming around King Drupad’s kingdom, he was hungry and he went to King Drupad’s Sabha (courtroom). He had asked King Drupad for his friendship and in a full house of priests, ministers, and other court people, King Drupad had insulted Guru Dronacharya by saying that he was a king and Guru Dronacharya was just any other priest, not even a court priest, so how can Guru Dronacarya even think about a friendship. This insult angered Guru Dronacharya and he left the kingdom of King Drupad with immediate effect, leaving behind the old friendship that they had when both of them didn’t have anything.
Duryodhana very strategically took the name of people and he took the name of King Drupad right after King Viraat because he knew that he had established a feeling of revenge based upon the mistrust of Drishtadhyumna, the mightiness of Arjun, the betrayal of Arjun in the form of Yuyudhan, the smartness of King Viraat using him as a bait and the betrayal of his own friend King Drupad in the form of insult and in the form of Drishtadhyumna, was enough to ignite a need for revenge. He knew that now, if he kept raising this bar by twisting each tale and accurately mincing his words, he will be unstoppable and Guru Dronacharya will definitely take his side.
Conclusion
Technically, in this Shloka, Duryodhan was all about making things travel his own way and trying to convince his teacher Guru Dronacharya into supporting him during a warfare that he initiated against his own brothers. He was also acting like a betrayer to Guru Dronacharya, only Guru Dronacharya was so much in support of Duryodhana always that his love for Duryodhan’s good side blinded him against the bad side of Duryodhan. There was a constant tussle between the fact that whatever Duryodhan said will not make sense if not said in a proper manner which will only show Guru Dronacharya what Duryodhan wanted him to see and therefore turn a blind eye to logic and also try to see what he was saved from being seen. At this point, Guru Dronacharya was put under the test of his own teaching ad somehow, miraculously, he flunked his own teaching by developing a vision based on a lop-sided argument. Here, Duyodhan also played the side of a smart student wherein he trapped his own teacher’s vision with only limited and restricted information, knowing well that if he used the right method, he will have the ace of the war on his side and he will be invincible. Although he was a little worried about Guru Dronacharya’s extreme love for Arjun, beyond bounds, explaining the unwanted commitment in the form of that blessing of superpower, he was sure that if he convinces Guru Dronacharya to fight against Lord Krishna and Pandavas, he will be easily convinced to find something around Arjun and the blessing situation, that will be trouble someday, for sure. There will be some more names who have joined the Pandava army making them strong.
For them, stay tuned to Rudra Vaani, an initiative by Rudraksha Hub to spread accurate knowledge of Granthas and Puranas in their most raw format for our audience. We will post a new content piece around Shlok-5 tomorrow. Till then, stay happy, stay blessed, and keep worshipping.
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