paśyaitāḿ pāṇḍu-putrāṇām
ācārya mahatīḿ camūm
vyūḍhāḿ drupada-putreṇa
tava śiṣyeṇa dhīmatā
Translation of Bhagavad Gita 1.3
O my teacher, behold the great army of the sons of Pandu, so expertly arranged by your intelligent disciple the son of Drupada.
Commentary by Sri A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada of Brahma Madhva Gaudiya Sampradaya:
Duryodhana, a great diplomat, wanted to point out the defects of Dronacarya, the great brahmana commander in chief. Dronacarya had some political quarrel with King Drupada, the father of Draupadi, who was Arjuna’s wife. As a result of this quarrel, Drupada performed a great sacrifice, by which he received the benediction of having a son who would be able to kill Dronacarya. Dronacarya knew this perfectly well, and yet as a liberal brahmana he did not hesitate to impart all his military secrets when the son of Drupada, Dhrishtadyumna, was entrusted to him for military education. Now, on the Battlefield of Kurukshetra, Dhrishtadyumna took the side of the Pandavas, and it was he who arranged for their military phalanx, after having learned the art from Dronacarya. Duryodhana pointed out this mistake of Dronacarya’s so that he might be alert and uncompromising in the fighting. By this he wanted to point out also that he should not be similarly lenient in battle against the Pandavas, who were also Dronacarya’s affectionate students. Arjuna, especially, was his most affectionate and brilliant student. Duryodhana also warned that such leniency in the fight would lead to defeat.
Commentary by Sri Vishvanatha Chakravarthi Thakur of Brahma Madhva Gaudiya Sampradaya:
(Combined commentary for verses 2 and 3.)
“O teacher, see this great army of the sons of Pandu, arranged for battle by your intelligent disciple, the son of Drupada.”
Understanding that Dhritarashtra wanted war, Sanjaya then spoke, to make him aware of the obstacles to fulfilling that desire.
Duryodhana, seeing the arrangement of troops (vyudham) being prepared by the Pandavas, then speaks with inner fear in nine verses, starting from the third verse.
He criticizes Dronacarya. He tells him that he is very foolish because Dhrstadyumna, the son of Drupada, was arranging the troops of the enemy. That person was Drona’s student, having been taught by him, even knowing that he was born to kill him. “Dhrstadyumna is very intelligent (dhimata) because he has gained the knowledge of how to kill you from you, his enemy. See what will result from this in the future!”
Commentary by Sri Ramanuja of Sri Sampradaya:
1.1 – 1.19 Dhrtarastra said — Sanjaya said — Duryodhana, after viewing the forces of Pandavas protected by Bhima, and his own forces protected by Bhisma conveyed his views thus to Drona, his teacher, about the adequacy of Bhima’s forces for conquering the Kaurava forces and the inadequacy of his own forces for victory against the Pandava forces. He was grief-stricken within. Observing his (Duryodhana’s) despondecny, Bhisma, in order to cheer him, roared like a lion, and then blowing his conch, made his side sound their conchs and kettle-drums, which made an uproar as a sign of victory. Then, having heard that great tumult, Arjuna and Sri Krsna the Lord of all lords, who was acting as the charioteer of Arjuna, sitting in their great chariot which was powerful enough to conquer the three worlds; blew their divine conchs Srimad Pancajanya and Devadatta. Then, both Yudhisthira and Bhima blew their respective conchs separately. That tumult rent asunder the hearts of your sons, led by Duryodhana. The sons of Dhrtarastra then thought, ‘Our cause is almost lost now itself.’ So said Sanjaya to Dhrtarastra who was longing for their victory. Sanjaya said to Dhrtarastra: Then, seeing the Kauravas, who were ready for battle, Arjuna, who had Hanuman, noted for his exploit of burning Lanka, as the emblem on his flag on his chariot, directed his charioteer Sri Krsna, the Supreme Lord-who is overcome by parental love for those who take shelter in Him who is the treasure-house of knowledge, power, lordship, energy, potency and splendour, whose sportive delight brings about the origin, sustentation and dissolution of the entire cosmos at His will, who is the Lord of the senses, who controls in all ways the senses inner and outer of all, superior and inferior — by saying, ‘Station my chariot in an appropriate place in order that I may see exactly my enemies who are eager for battle.’
Commentary by Sri Sridhara Swami of Rudra Sampradaya:
These very words, O respected preceptor, please behold are understood to introduce this theme up until verse twelve. O respected preceptor, please behold the Pandava army consisting of seven aksauhini’s arrayed and displayed in battle formation by Dhrishtadyumna, the son of Draupada.
Commentary by Sri Madhvacharya of Brahma Sampradaya:
Sri Madhvacarya did not comment on this sloka.
Commentary by Sri Keshava Kashmiri of Kumara Sampradaya:
Duryodhana in order to kindle some anger in the heart of his preceptor Drona, speaks about the excellence of the Pandava army cynically using the words: Behold the mighty army of the Pandavas well arranged in military phalanx. Here Duryodhana is conveying to Drona that the Pandavas have come prepared to engage in battle. Duryodhana wants to further incite Drona against the Pandavas by the use of the word Behold implying that with unmitigated arrogance the Pandavas are fast approaching without waiting for us to start who are depending upon Drona himself. If Drona then puts forth that the Pandavas are his pupils as well and due to Yudhisthira being elder have the right to start before you if they so desire. But Duryodhana anticipating that response, overtly mentions Dhritadyumna the commander of the Pandava army by calling him the son of Drupada, to remind Drona of his being the son of his mortal enemy, so there should be no compassion for them. If Drona then argues that one should not fight with the son of an enemy who is commander of an opposing army, Duryodhana by also referring to Dhritadyumna as Dronas disciple neutralises that argument by the offence incurred of his in choosing to fight against a preceptor a condemned action so there is no doubt as to motivation. Duryodhana by also calling Dhristadyumna intelligent suggests that everything as a pupil he learned from Drona would now be used against him so there should be no hesitation or neglect towards him as he has made up his mind to take Dronas life.
What Sanjaya is subtlety conveying to Dhritarastra is that his son, King Duryodhana uninfluenced by the sanctity Kuruksetra possesses no inclination for righteousness. A serpent even though fed with milk does give up its venom; on the contrary it increases its poison and anger. So also the same regarding your son, you should not worry that he will ever return to the kingdom to the Pandavas for he definitely will not.
Commentary by Sri Adi Shankaracharya of Advaita Sampradaya:
1.3 Sri Sankaracharya did not comment on this sloka. The commentary starts from 2.10.
Commentary by Sri Abhinavagupta of Kaula Tantra Sampradaya:
1.2 — 1.9 Why this exhaustive counting? The reality of things is this:
Sanskrit Shloka Without Transliteration Marks:
pasyaitam pandu-putranam
acarya mahatim camum
vyudham drupada-putrena
tava sisyena dhimata
Sanskrit to English Word for Word Meanings:
paśya — behold; etām — this; pāṇḍu-putrāṇām — of the sons of Pāṇḍu; ācārya — O teacher; mahatīm — great; camūm — military force; vyūḍhām — arranged; drupada-putreṇa — by the son of Drupada; tava — your; śiṣyeṇa — disciple; dhī-matā — very intelligent.
