तं तु द्रोणः कृपः कर्णो द्रौणिश् च सबृहद्बलः ॥
कृतवर्मा च हार्दिक्यः षड् रथाः पर्यवारयन् ॥
दृष्ट्वा तु सैन्धवे भारम् अतिमात्रं समाहितम् ॥
सैन्यं तव महाराज युधिष्ठिरम् उपाद्रवत् ॥
सौभद्रम् इतरे वीरम् अभ्यवर्षञ् शराम्बुभिः ॥
तालमात्राणि चापानि विकर्षन्तो महारथाः ॥
taṃ tu droṇaḥ kṛpaḥ karṇo drauṇiś ca sabṛhadbalaḥ ||
kṛtavarmā ca hārdikyaḥ ṣaḍ rathāḥ paryavārayan ||
dṛṣṭvā tu saindhave bhāram atimātraṃ samāhitam ||
sainyaṃ tava mahārāja yudhiṣṭhiram upādravat ||
saubhadram itare vīram abhyavarṣañ śarāmbubhiḥ ||
tālamātrāṇi cāpāni vikarṣanto mahārathāḥ ||
Him then Drona, Kripa, Karna, the son of Drona together with Brihadbala, and Kritavarman, son of Hridika -- six chariot-warriors -- surrounded. Seeing the excessive burden placed upon the Sindhu king, your army, O great sovereign, rushed upon Yudhishthira. And the rest of the great chariot-warriors showered the warrior son of Subhadra with streams of arrows, drawing bows the size of a palm tree.
105992e10619 · published Jul 19, 2026, 3:30:04 PM UTC
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Against the youth -- six foremost warriors at once, while the whole army is thrown against Yudhishthira: the enemy's design splits the Pandavas' forces so they can nowhere converge. It is significant that six of the greatest are dispatched at once against a single child -- a disproportion that reveals both the youth's greatness and the lawlessness of his slayers. The verse teaches that the unrighteous, unable to prevail in fair contest, resorts to numbers and calculation -- six against one, diverting the main forces; that a warrior's greatness is seen by how many of the strongest are sent against him; and that the tradition, naming by name the six who surrounded the youth, forever records them as accomplices in the crime, for not one of them could overcome him alone.