Shrimad Bhagwad Geeta Shlok Blog -7
Shlok-7
अस्माकं तु विशिष्टा ये तान्निबोध द्विजोत्तम । नायका मम सैन्यस्य संज्ञार्थं तान्ब्रवीमि ते ॥ १-७ ||
English Transcription
Asmakam Tu Vishishtta Ye Taannibodh Dwijottam | Naayakaa Mum Sainyasya Sangyartham Tanbraveemi Te || 1-7 ||
Hindi Translation
Ab main iske aage apni sena ke jo sarvashreshtha yodha hain, unka bhi vyakhyaan karta hoon, aap dhyan se unke bare me bhi sune.
Meaning
We already saw how Duryodhan has pumped up the maximum for the war. He wanted to defeat the Pandavas and insult them while ousting them from everything they have ever had. For this, he ran to his teacher, and he made him believe that he has to be heard. This was exactly why he poisoned his teacher's ears in the most manipulative manner possible. He pointed out everything the Pandavas were doing and twisted it to show that they were doing it only to hurt the Kauravas and they have been doing everything only to hurt the Kauravas. He added his hate with every statement and rendered it in a manner that even the teacher, Guru Dronacharya got deceived by everything. He was also motivated to take a side and gain revenge.
Duryodhan knew that he had played the entire trick very neatly and he was sure that there was one more thing to do to make things airtight. He had already spoken a lot about the Pandavas and their strengths. He also mentioned a lot about the people who have joined the Pandava team and who have made the army of the Pandava gang strong and who are potential threats. There was also a lot of chatter about why some of them were highly unexpected to join the Pandava army and why their decision made little to no sense at all in any manner. Duryodhana could not digest the fact that nearly everyone who had something to prove was with the Pandavas when they themselves had nothing. Some names made the Kauravas aware of their strategies and pull up their socks without feeling that the Pandavas are weak in any manner.
Thus, Duryodhan thought that if he kept talking only about the strengths of the Pandavas or what he thinks they did and what he thinks they should do or what he thinks they will do or might do, Guru Dronacharya, although charged in a manner to take revenge against the Pandavas, might find all the more reasons to join the Pandavas and defeat the Kauravas and support the winning horse instead of supporting the one losing the trade and end the injustice once and for all. So, Duryodhan rather switched the gears from a sole focus on the Pandavas and tried to bring the attention of everyone towards himself and his army. He wanted Guru Dronacharya to know that even if Padavas are doing everything they can, it is more of a desperate move to build an army in a minimum time frame with maximum skills. He also tried to establish the fact that they have a lot of good people and somehow, even if they feel it is good for them, he wanted to tell Guru Dronacharya that he also has a better army than this army if the Narayani Sena and it was not just harbored and created by Lord Krishna himself but was also taught by Guru Dronacharya himself. So whatever the Pandavas can show, the Kauravas have better.
Duryodhan tells Guru Dronacharya that they have seen what the Pandavas have to offer and now, all their strengths were in a few limited statements only, and now, the best is yet to come in a manner of the never-ending list of people with Kaurava army who can never be neglected in any way. While Duryodhan was talking about the Pandava army, they were facing the direction of the Pandava army so that they can show the faces of the participants in the camp visible from afar. So he says that kindly now see our side of the camp. They might look mighty as they have few only. We are mighty because even if we are not much talked about, we hold more experience of togetherness and it comes without saying that I have ruled these people for so long and they are happy under my reign, so they obviously matter more.
Duryodhan then felt that it should not look bad that he is trying to instruct his Guru, so he rather used the words like request you to kindly pay attention once. He said that he would be pleased to introduce his army men. He wanted to attract the attention of Guru Dronacharya towards the biggest and best of his assets as a king and as a warrior, his army.
Duryodhan said that in the Pandava army, he had to pinpoint each person and tell about them because there were limited people he could talk about but in his army, there are a lot of people to talk about and it will be a never-ending conversation if he kept even naming the best talents, skills, and pride of his army. He was pretty sure that he will be able to keep talking about everything that makes him and his army supreme and thus, a worthy topic to be discussed and mulled over.
Duryodhan actually told Guru Dronacharya that he was confident that his army had nothing to be afraid of and since was working together even before he took charge, he knew everything about them and they knew everything about each other. Duryodhan made sure to hide the fact that he was stressed about his army. He also hid the fact that his army although more experienced, lacked understanding of a lot of things, like coordination and supporting the other person. Each of them was good at what they did, but they were not being able to synchronize their efforts as a team and even if Duryodhan knew about this, he made sure not to mention this in any manner and just get away with it in the most casual way possible.
Duryodhan used the term Sangyaartham, which actually means that he will be only pinpointing the best side of his army and he will only show from afar what are the points he prides in because he was confident that even if Guru Dronacharya was not siding with anyone till then, he knew about everything and he will definitely now his own trained men in the Nrayani Sena, now part of the Kaurava army. Having said that, Duryodhan also meant to say that he did not want to insult the knowledge and power of Guru Dronacharya because he wanted to establish a sense of respect before he could actually start using the brains of Guru Dronacharya to fulfill his own requirements.
Duryodhan knew that he was a little scared. He knew that he will be subject to scrutiny if he will not behave in the standard stressed way. He also knew that there was a huge chance that his intentions will be doubted upon if he did not provide a proper approach to his thought process. It was clear ta he was desperate to get Guru Dronacharya in his camp, it was just unfair for a great fighter like him to treat his enemies as weak.
This was exactly why Duryodhan was sounding as if even if he hated the Pandavas and now their army too, he was not mistaken that they were weak or he will have to work less to get their approval. He knew he will have to work hard and he was not ready to indulge in anything that would mitigate his chances of winning the war he had initiated at any cost. So he did not want to underestimate his enemies and also prove to be more solid than anyone had ever expected.
Duryodhan also wanted to say that he had talked about Pandavas first before talking about his own army because he wanted to keep the best of his side at the last for a lasting impact and not feel hidden behind the insecurities of the Pandava army that was seeming to be strong, even if it wasn’t exactly as per Duryodhan.
Another reason why Duryodhan wanted to speak of his army in great stride but took back was because of two reasons. Primarily, he knew that if he said too much about his army, it will be an over-expressed and over-obsessive behavior and his teacher, Guru Dronacharya will definitely sense over-confidence. We all know how over-confidence becomes the issue in anything and thus, he never wanted to reveal his bad side. Also, the second reason was, he genuinely was not very sure that this move of talking ill of the opposition and talking all good about themselves will be a good sell to Guru Dronacharya when he wants his side to look like a lopsided yet highly skilled one. So excessive praise will also lead to trouble and not talking about it will also be bad.
One more suspected reason why he didn’t want to specifically name everyone and pull out a bridge of praises for his army was only that he was slightly scared of his opposition. He was scared that with the powers of Lord Krishna with the Pandavas, there was a high chance that he had actually made a mistake in selecting Lord Krishna’s army over him alone. This was why Duryodhan just pointed towards his side of the army and said that he will not exactly name each person and talk about them separately as each one of them is best in what they do. So they only need to be managed from the outside. They will make for a great combination with Guru Dronacharya.
Conclusion
Duryodhan knew he was going the wrong way, but his ego made him believe that he could still win. This ego made him a party to as many as multiple offenses including baiting his own brothers, deceiving the rulers of a kingdom, snatching the right of the people to have elected their king/ ruler, disobeying the court order, betrayal in a game in a drunk state, cheating in the game using unlawful tactics, insulting his own family members and even revolted the physical right to privacy of his own extended family female. All these actions were definitely taking a huge step in making him the one on target and therefore, he pulled a stunt wherein he will be blamed for a loss in a fight that he initiated but he won’t be alive to witness the blames cast upon him, or he will be praised for winning the war he initiated with all odds against him in all manners. Either way, the innocent people will be subject to mass destruction helping the ego fights off some compelling and high-hierarchy people.
This was all about Shlok-7, Chapter-1. We will see you tomorrow again with Shlok-8, Chapter-1. If you have missed out on Shlok-6, Chapter-1, find it here.
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