चिन्त्यताम् इदम् एवाग्रे मम निःश्रेयसं परम् ॥
उभाव् अपि भवन्तौ मे महत् कर्म करिष्यतः ॥
भूयश् च श्रोतुम् इच्छामि परेषां रथसत्तमान् ॥
ये चैवातिरथास् तत्र तथैव रथयूथपाः ॥
बलाबलम् अमित्राणां श्रोतुम् इच्छामि कौरव ॥
प्रभातायां रजन्यां वै इदं युद्धं भविष्यति ॥
भीष्म उवाच
एते रथास् ते संख्यातास् तथैवातिरथा नृप ॥
य चाप्य् अर्धरथा राजन् पाण्डवानाम् अतः शृणु ॥
यदि कौतूहलं ते ऽद्य पाण्डवानां बले नृप ॥
रथसंख्यां महाबाहो सहैभिर् वसुधाधिपैः ॥
cintyatām idam evāgre mama niḥśreyasaṃ param ||
ubhāv api bhavantau me mahat karma kariṣyataḥ ||
bhūyaś ca śrotum icchāmi pareṣāṃ rathasattamān ||
ye caivātirathās tatra tathaiva rathayūthapāḥ ||
balābalam amitrāṇāṃ śrotum icchāmi kaurava ||
prabhātāyāṃ rajanyāṃ vai idaṃ yuddhaṃ bhaviṣyati ||
bhīṣma uvāca
ete rathās te saṃkhyātās tathaivātirathā nṛpa ||
ya cāpy ardharathā rājan pāṇḍavānām ataḥ śṛṇu ||
yadi kautūhalaṃ te 'dya pāṇḍavānāṃ bale nṛpa ||
rathasaṃkhyāṃ mahābāho sahaibhir vasudhādhipaiḥ ||
'First of all this must be considered, my highest good. Both of you will do a great deed for me. And further, I wish to hear of the finest charioteers among the enemy: who among them are atirathas, and who are the leaders of the chariot troops. I wish to hear the strength and weakness of the foes, O Kaurava; when morning comes, this battle will begin.' Bhishma said: 'These, your chariots, have already been counted, and the atirathas as well, O king. Now hear of the rathas and half-rathas of the Pandavas, O sovereign. If today you are curious about the army of the Pandavas, O king, then, together with these lords of the earth, hear the count of their chariots, O mighty-armed one.'
4caf0ef6d6f3 · published Jul 17, 2026, 6:32:37 AM UTC
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Bhishma sharply checks Karna, but he does so to preserve the army: before a battle begins, discord within is more dangerous than the enemy without. His subsequent speech about the Pandavas then reads as a sober warning to Duryodhana. He lists not only their strength, stature, and weapons but also the memory of Draupadi's humiliation and the dice game — precisely this memory will fuel their fighting. A special place is given to Arjuna together with Krishna: here the ratha is assessed not merely as a warrior but as an entire fighting reality, in which charioteer, weapons, horses, armor, astras, and inner resolve are joined into a single force.