Gita 01.06 Duryodhana diplomatically continues to incite Drona against the Pandava army

Audio Link 2: Gita 01.06 Duryodhana diplomatically continues to incite Drona against the Pandava army – The Spiritual Scientist

yudhāmanyuś ca vikrānta
uttamaujāś ca vīryavān
saubhadro draupadeyāś ca
sarva eva mahā-rathāḥ

Synonyms

yudhāmanyuḥ — Yudhāmanyu; ca — and; vikrāntaḥ — mighty; uttamaujāḥ — Uttamaujā; ca — and; vīrya–vān — very powerful; saubhadraḥ — the son of Subhadrā; draupadeyāḥ — the sons of Draupadī; ca — and; sarve — all; eva — certainly; mahā–rathāḥ — great chariot fighters.

Duryodhana is continuing his description of the opposing forces to Drona.  One consistent theme that we see in all the verses that he has spoken in the last few pages four to six is a reference to Drupada. Here also, he used various warriors, but he refers to Drupada.

Yudhāmanyuś ca vikranta, uttamaujāś ca vīryavān – He offers honorifics to Yudhamanyu and Uttamaujas as heroic and adventurous. Saubhadro draupadeyāś ca –  The son of Subhadra is there and the sons of Draupadi are also there. Draupadi could be referred to by the name Panchali or by many other names. But here specifically he refers to her connection with Drupada because he wants to incite Drona. Drona and Bhisma are the prominent warriors on his side but whose sympathy for his cause is questionable for Duryodhana.

By reminding that opposite forces are on the side of Drupada, Duryodhana is trying to trigger antagonism in the mind of Drona towards the enemies. At that time, the Kuru and Panchala kingdoms where the two most powerful kingdoms in that part of India and that time in history. There was actually a rivalry between the two kingdoms but when Pandu’s son, Arjuna won Draupadi in swayamvar, the Pandavas married Draupadi, that created an alliance between the Kurus and the Panchalas. Here the word Kuru, although we actually use it to refer to Kauravas, but even the Pandavas are in one sense Kauravas because they are descendants of the Kuru dynasty.

However, because it was the sons of Duryodhana who were the rulers and whose father had the possession of the Kuru throne, they are generally referred to as the Kauravas. But the Pandavas are also descendants of the Kuru dynasty so they are also Kauravas in a sense. These two big dynasties the Kuru dynasty and the Panchal dynasty through marriage formed an alliance.

In the past, marriages were often the ways in which treaties would be solidified. Even if somebody makes a commitment that we will be together what is the guarantee that they will be together? But if there is a blood relationship formed, if a marriage happens between the two dynasties and then they have a child through that marriage then both have affection for that child. The military alliances are solidified through family alliances. However, in this case the Kuru dynasty itself was split. Panchala kingdom alliance was not with the Kuru dynasty but with one chain within the Kuru dynasty and that chain was the Pandava chain.

Drona was the teacher for the Kuru dynasty. He had some antipathy with Drupada from a long time. Whenever any conflict happens, there are main protagonists between whom the conflict takes place.  All those who assist them have their individual dynamics in the relationship. If we consider these three parties, the Panchala party, the Pandava party and the Kaurava party,  Drona was on the Kaurava side as far as fighting the war was concerned. His heart was on the Pandavas side, but his heart was also against the Panchalas side. And on the opposite side were both the Pandavas and the Panchalas.

In terms of military might, in terms of individual expertise, Arjunan and Bhima were far better than Drupada. But in terms of military power, since the Pandavas were in exile they did not have any army with them. Drupada had provided them an entire regiment.

We could compare the war at that time with sports match in today’s world. If we have a cricket match, then within the main match, say between India and Pakistan, there are subplots where there is a particular bowler and a particular batsman. They pair off against each other. The bowler has a track record of getting this batsman out or the batsman may have a track record of testing the bowler and scoring a lot of runs of that bowler. So often these subplots add intrigue and drama to the main plot.

In this case the subplot is two-fold because on the opposite side there are Panchalas and Pandavas. Drona is affectionate towards the Pandavas but antagonistic towards the Panchalas. Drawing the attention of Drona towards the Panchalas, towards Drupada specifically, Duryodhana is very diplomatically trying to get Drona to become antagonistic towards the opposite side by focusing on the presence of Drupada and those related with Drupada rather than focusing on the Pandavas and those related with the Pandavas. Duryodhana knows how to incite people’s emotions so that they can work for him instead of against him.

Politicians in general have to have that power to get people to follow them. People can be persuaded by reason but they can be persuaded far more by emotion. That means, by making a reasonable argument, we might be able to get people to do something. However, if you can get people emotionally involved in something, then getting them to do something is much easier. Here Drona’s emotions were already involved, but highlighting his emotions towards Drupada instead of Pandavas, Duryodhana made it work for his cause instead of against his cause.

Saubhadro draupadeyāś ca, sarva eva mahā-rathāḥ – They are all great warriors. It’s interesting that right in the beginning while making a list Duryodhana mentions Draupadi.  She had five sons, one through each husband, collectively called as the sons of Draupadi. Arjuna married Draupadi first and then he married Subhadra. So, Draupadi’s sons were older than Subhadra’s son. Subhadra’s son is much more heroic as we will see later in the battle where he becomes a stinging thorn in the side of the Kauravas by his heroic fighting. So Duryodhana mentions him first among that younger generation.

 

He mentions saubhadro first, or Abhimanyu first. In communication it is said that what we mention first in a sentence or what we mention last in a sentence is what stays prominently in people’s minds.  In between there is so much that may not stay in people’s minds. So, the last thing that he uses is draupadeyash ca. Again that connection with Drupada is what Duryodhana is using to incite Drona to fight against him.