Transcript of Bhakti-Shastri class on this verse by Chaitanya Charan

Bg 1.4

atra śūrā maheṣv-āsā

bhīmārjuna-samā yudhi

yuyudhāno virāṭaś ca

drupadaś ca mahā-rathaḥ

Word for word:

atra — here; śūrāḥ — heroes; mahā-iṣu-āsāḥ — mighty bowmen; bhīma-arjuna — to Bhīma and Arjuna; samāḥ — equal; yudhi — in the fight; yuyudhānaḥ — Yuyudhāna; virāṭaḥ — Virāṭa; ca — also; drupadaḥ — Drupada; ca — also; mahā-rathaḥ — great fighter.

Translation:

Here in this army are many heroic bowmen equal in fighting to Bhīma and Arjuna: great fighters like Yuyudhāna, Virāṭa and Drupada.

atra means here, śūrā maheṣv-āsā, mahā-iṣu-āsāḥ there are many formidable bowmen and they are like bhīmārjuna -samā yudhi -> equivalent to Bhima and Arjuna. yuyudhāno virāṭaś ca, drupadaś ca mahā-rathaḥ -> So Virata and Drupada were elderly, but they were also formidable warrior. Duryodhana is enlisting various warriors with whom he has to contend.

Firstly the army is arranged formidably, and in this formidable army there are many formidable warriors, so that makes things even more difficult to attack.

Duryodhana is describing what he is seeing on the opponent side; in the 2nd verse it is described how he has approached Dronacharya; 3rd verse it is described how Dristadumna has arranged armies expertly Dhimata; and now after giving general assessment of the third verse, he is making specific statement about different warriors:

atra śūrā, here there are different sura–different heroes,maheṣv-āsā,there are extremely powerful bow fighters. In the Kurukshetra war; bows and arrows were the primary method of fighting. Even Duryodhana and Bhima, before the final war with maces, fought on several occasions with bow and arrows. So maheṣv-āsā there were great archers. Javelins, maces and other weapons were also used, but primarily it was bows and arrows, so great archers are generic reference to great warriors:

bhīmārjuna-samā yudhi

yudhi– there are warriors like Bhima and Arjuna.

Now Duryodhana knows that the greatest obstacles for him are Bhima and Arjuna; although Yudhisthir is the eldest, his military might does not match with his two younger brothers. And now relatively speaking, if you look at the subsequent war that took place, Arjuna fought much more destructively and he killed more Maharathas than Bhima. Of course Bhima killed all 100 Kauravas. That was the vow he had taken and other Pandavas warriors helped him by not killing any of the Karuava warrior, even if they came in front of them. Bhima was a formidable warrior. Arjuna was most formidable, he went to heaven and acquired celestial weapons. However, in Duryodhana’s mind, Bhima is formidable because he is the person who has vowed to kill Duryodhana and he knows that Bhima is extremely furious, full of wrath, he has to be overcome. Bhima is also elder, so bhīmārjuna-samā yudhi.

So Duryodhana, refers to Bhima and says there are many warriors equal to him. At one level there is no one equal to Arjuna and Bhima (in mace fighting except Duyodhana); so when there is no one equal, then why Duryodhana is saying there are many warriors like that? Actually this is not absolute comparisons, it is relative comparison which refers toall great warriors. Arjuna was the greatest among the great archers. In the category of great;yuyudhāno virāṭaś cayuyudhān refers to Satyaki. In vedic times warriors had different names, Arjuna himself had ten names. Satyaki was one of formidable warrior and one of the days he checked Duryodhana and almost defeated him, but he did not kill him. Because Satyaki was conscious of Bhima’s vow, the greatest war he has done on 14th day when he was told to assist Arjuna; when Arjuna vows to kill Jayadrata. Jayadrata was also a student of Dronacharya, and learned further skills from Arjuna. Jayadrata considered himself a student of Arjuna: also so he was facing responsibility, a grave challenge to help Arjuna. So on 14th day; he helped Arjuna when he was targeting Jayadharatha. Satyaki was able to penetrate along with Arjuna the military phalanxes.Since Arujuna was attacked from all side; Satyaki helped in protecting Arjuna as he engaged other warriors, and this helped Arjuna progress further towards his target. Satyaki killed Bhurishrava who at one time got hold of him and dragged and kicked him, then he killed Bhurishrava’s father Somadutta. And the same day, Bhima killed Maharathas; Somadutta’s father Bhalica. This was Satyaki’s greatest accomplishment.

yuyudhāno virāṭaś ca,

Virata was also commander of one akshauhini consisting of a troop of 21,870 (chariot) warriors. There were 7 akshauhini under Dristadumna and each akshauhini was led by a commander like Drupada, Shikhandi and Bhima.

Arjuna was not commander of any unit, but he would fight freely at all places and he would plan and execute those strategies with Dristadumna. On the other hand, Duryodhan accused Guru Drona for not fighting wholeheartedly which forced the grandsire to fight with ferocity. Consequently, Virata and Drupada were neutralized by Drona.

So here Duryodhana is naming five warriors, but actually naming three (Arjuna, Bhima and Yuyudhana) and comparing them with two others (Drupada and Virata). Duryodhana is emphasizing the gravity of the situation which Drona knows, but Duryodhana is repeating to make Drona serious.