धृष्टकेतुश्चेकितानः काशिराजश्च वीर्यवान् |
पुरुजित्कुन्तिभोजश्च शैब्यश्च नरपुंगवः ||
Meaning
Dhrishtaketu, Chekitana and the valiant king of Kasi, Purujit and Kuntibhoja and Saibya, the best men.
Word to Word Meaning
धृष्टकेतुश्चेकितानः – Dhrishtaketu, Chekitana
काशिराजश्च – King of Kashi
वीर्यवान् – mighty, powerful
पुरुजित्कुन्तिभोजश्च – Purujit and Kuntibhoja (maternal grandfather of Arjuna)
शैब्यश्च – Shaibya, a warrior
नरपुंगवः – the best among men, exceptional warrior
Widely Accepted Interpretations
- Duryodhana continues to tell Dronacharya about the strength of Pandav’s army and continues to name other notable members of Pandav’s army
- Dhrishtaketu, Chekitana, King of Kashi,Purujit, Kuntibhoja and Shaibya are all from different dynasties and are allies of Pandav’s here importance of allies is depicted. To win a battle we need individual strength as well as the allies who help us.
- Pandav’s instead of living in exile for several years have managed to gather many allies. This shows the diplomatic skills of Pandavas.
- Kashi holds a great spiritual and cultural significance and the fact that King of Kashi is fighting with the Pandavas show the moral righteousness and legitimacy of the cause of Pandav’s side.
- This also shows that Pandavs not only has powerful warriors like Arjun and Bhima, but also had a strong collective force which comprised of kings, noblemen, warriors from multiple kingdoms