Bhagwat Geeta : Chapter 1 | Shlok 2

Duryodhana with Dronacharya on battlefield

सञ्जय उवाच ।
दृष्ट्वा तु पाण्डवानीकं व्यूढं दुर्योधनस्तदा ।
आचार्यमुपसङ्गम्य राजा वचनमब्रवीत् । |


Meaning

Sanjay said:
On seeing the Pandava army standing in military formation, King Duryodhan approached his teacher (Dronacharya), and spoke these words.

Word to Word Meaning

सञ्जय – Sanjaya (the narrator of Mahabharat to King Dhritarashtra)
उवाच – said
दृष्ट्वा – having seen
तु – but
पाण्डवानीकं – Pandava’s army (पाण्डव – Pandavas आनीकम् -army)
व्यूढं – standing/arranged in millitary formation
दुर्योधनः – Duryodhana
तदा – then
आचार्यम् – teacher, Guru Dronacharya
उपसङ्गम्य – approached
राजा – king, refers to Duryodhana
वचनम् – words/speech
अब्रवीत् – spoke


Widely Accepted Interpretations

  • Duryodhana, who is arrogant, insecure and attached to power feels threatened by the well organized army of Pandavas
  • Duryodhana, although is a king but he lacks moral strength as his intentions are unrighteous.
  • Duryodhana represents a mind filled with ego, he looks confident but is in inner turmoil, because of his previous wrong decisions. So he approaches his teacher Dronacharya to seek validation and assurance.
  • It shows the people with power feel vulnerable against the opponent who is disciplined and righteous.
  • A leader and his army looks strong if they are disciplined and have righteous intentions. On the other hand if a leader is selfish with flawed motivations, he gets insecure and starts looking for assurance and external validations

Scroll to Top