amī ca tvāḿ dhṛtarāṣṭrasya putrāḥ
sarve sahaivāvani-pāla-sańghaiḥ
bhīṣmo droṇaḥ sūta-putras tathāsau
sahāsmadīyair api yodha-mukhyaiḥ
vaktrāṇi te tvaramāṇā viśanti
daḿṣṭrā-karālāni bhayānakāni
kecid vilagnā daśanāntareṣu
sandṛśyante cūrṇitair uttamāńgaiḥ
Translation of Bhagavad Gita 11.26-27
All the sons of Dhritarashtra, along with their allied kings, and Bhishma, Drona, Karna—and our chief soldiers also—are rushing into Your fearful mouths. And some I see trapped with heads smashed between Your teeth.
Commentary by Sri A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada of Gaudiya Sampradaya:
In a previous verse the Lord promised to show Arjuna things he would be very interested in seeing. Now Arjuna sees that the leaders of the opposite party (Bhishma, Drona, Karna and all the sons of Dhritarashtra) and their soldiers and Arjuna’s own soldiers are all being annihilated. This is an indication that after the death of nearly all the persons assembled at Kurukshetra, Arjuna will emerge victorious. It is also mentioned here that Bhishma, who is supposed to be unconquerable, will also be smashed. So also Karna. Not only will the great warriors of the other party like Bhishma be smashed, but some of the great warriors of Arjuna’s side also.
Commentary by Sri Vishvanatha Chakravarthi Thakur of Gaudiya Sampradaya:
No commentary by Sri Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakur.
Commentary by Sri Ramanuja of Sri Sampradaya:
11.26 — 11.27 All these sons of Dhrtarastra like Duryodhana and others like Bhisma, Drona, and Suta’s son Karna together with the hosts of monarchs on their side and also the leading warriors on our side, are hastening to their destruction; they enter Your fearful mouths with terrible fangs; some, caught between the teeth are seen with their heads crushed to powder.
Commentary by Sri Sridhara Swami of Rudra Sampradaya:
This verse relates to verse seven where Lord Krishna states any reality one would care to see is present in His visvarupa or divine universal form. In the visvarupa can be seen the coming victory and defeat in the battle of Kuruksetra which Arjuna will soon be fighting and indeed he sees all the 100 sons of King Dhritarastra with all the kings fighting for the Kauravas along with all the kings and princes and principle warriors on the Pandava side such as Dhristadyumna and Sikhandi rushing into the gaping, fierce mouths and teeth of multitudinous faces of the almighty visvarupa . Arjuna can clearly see Bhishma, Drona and Karna as well entering into these gnashing mouths along with the others. It is not that they are individually entering separately but both sides are speedily entering different mouths at the same time and can be seen to be destroyed therein.
Commentary by Sri Madhvacharya of Brahma Sampradaya:
Those who have achieved moksa or liberation from material existence are divine beings and enter into one of the abodes of the Supreme Lord Krishna determined by their devotion to Him. The Brahmanda Purana states: That divine liberated beings are not subject to the stringent rules of material existence but enter into it and depart from it according to the desire of their own free will.
Commentary by Sri Keshava Kashmiri of Kumara Sampradaya:
The Supreme Lord Krishna was requested by Arjuna in verse 25 with the word prasida meaning be merciful and grace him to be free from fear; yet Lord Krishna exhibited His visvarupa or divine universal form to indicate that there was nothing to fear for His devotees and that the battle of the two armies and the whole material manifestation was completely under His control. The visvarupa was revealed to assure Arjuna of his definite victory and resultant fame by the Pandavas victory over the Kauravas. This victory arranged and orchestrated by Lord Krishna was to rid the burden on Earth of the Kauravas along with other demons in the guise of kings who were slain previously during the great war with the demigods and had now taken rebirth again as millions of warriors dispersed throughout both armies. In verse seven Lord Krishna told Arjuna that he could see any reality he would want to see in the visvarupa and now he is seeing his enemies defeat and his own victory which would soon transpire. Duryodhana, Bhishma who was educated in the heavenly planets, Drona who had received divine weapons from Parasurama, Karna the son of Surya the sungod along with the principle warriors on the Pandava side such as Dhristadyumna and Sikhandi are all seen rushing headlong directly into the innumerable mouths of the visvarupa where they are gnashed by the fearsome teeth and perish.
Commentary by Sri Adi Shankaracharya of Advaita Sampradaya:
11.26 Ca, and; tvam, into You-this is to be connected with ‘rapidly enter’ in the next verse; sarve, all; ami, those; putrah, sons-Duryodhana and others; dhrtarastrasya, of Dhrtarastra; saha, along with; avanipala-sanghaih, multitudes of the rulers (pala) of the earth (avani); also Bhisma, Drona, tatha, and; asau, that; suta-putrah, son of a Suta, Karna; saha, together with; api, even; asmadiyaih, our; yodha-mukhyaih, prominent warriors, the
11.27 Visanti, they enter; tvarmanah, rapidly, in great haste; into te, Your; vaktrani, mouths;-what kind of mouths?-bhayanakani, terrible; damstra-karalani, with cruel teeth. Besides, among these who have entered the mouths, kecit, some; samdrsyante, are see; vilagna, sticking, like meat eaten; dasanantaresu, in the gaps between the teeth; uttamangaih, with their heads; curnitaih, crushed. As to how they enter, he says:
Commentary by Sri Abhinavagupta of Kaula Tantra Sampradaya:
Sri Abhinavagupta did not comment on this sloka.
Sanskrit Shloka Without Transliteration Marks:
ami ca tvam dhrtarastrasya putrah
sarve sahaivavani-pala-sanghaih
bhismo dronah suta-putras tathasau
sahasmadiyair api yodha-mukhyaih
vaktrani te tvaramana visanti
damstra-karalani bhayanakani
kecid vilagna dasanantaresu
sandrsyante curnitair uttamangaih
Sanskrit to English Word for Word Meanings:
amī — these; ca — also; tvām — You; dhṛtarāṣṭrasya — of Dhṛtarāṣṭra; putrāḥ — the sons; sarve — all; saha — with; eva — indeed; avani-pāla — of warrior kings; sańghaiḥ — the groups; bhīṣmaḥ — Bhīṣmadeva; droṇaḥ — Droṇācārya; sūta-putraḥ — Karṇa; tathā — also; asau — that; saha — with; asmadīyaiḥ — our; api — also; yodha-mukhyaiḥ — chiefs among the warriors; vaktrāṇi — mouths; te — Your; tvaramāṇāḥ — rushing; viśanti — are entering; daḿṣṭrā — teeth; karālāni — terrible; bhayānakāni — very fearful; kecit — some of them; vilagnāḥ — becoming attached; daśana-antareṣu — between the teeth; sandṛśyante — are seen; cūrṇitaiḥ — with smashed; uttama-ańgaiḥ — heads.
