त्वं चैव सौमदत्तिश् च कर्णश् चैव महारथः ॥
अश्वत्थामा च शल्यश् च वृषसेनः कृपस् तथा ॥
शतं चाश्वसहस्राणां रथानाम् अयुतानि षट् ॥
द्विरदानां प्रभिन्नानां सहस्राणि चतुर्दश ॥
पदातीनां सहस्राणि दंशितान्य् एकविंशतिः ॥
गव्यूतिषु त्रिमात्रेषु माम् अनासाद्य तिष्ठत ॥
तत्रस्थं त्वां न संसोढुं शक्ता देवाः सवासवाः ॥
किं पुनः पाण्डवाः सर्वे समाश्वसिहि सैन्धव ॥
tvaṃ caiva saumadattiś ca karṇaś caiva mahārathaḥ ||
aśvatthāmā ca śalyaś ca vṛṣasenaḥ kṛpas tathā ||
śataṃ cāśvasahasrāṇāṃ rathānām ayutāni ṣaṭ ||
dviradānāṃ prabhinnānāṃ sahasrāṇi caturdaśa ||
padātīnāṃ sahasrāṇi daṃśitāny ekaviṃśatiḥ ||
gavyūtiṣu trimātreṣu mām anāsādya tiṣṭhata ||
tatrasthaṃ tvāṃ na saṃsoḍhuṃ śaktā devāḥ savāsavāḥ ||
kiṃ punaḥ pāṇḍavāḥ sarve samāśvasihi saindhava ||
[Drona:] "You, and the son of Somadatta, and Karna, the great chariot-warrior, Ashvatthaman, and Shalya, Vrishasena and Kripa; and a hundred thousand horses, sixty thousand chariots, fourteen thousand elephants in must, twenty-one thousand armored foot-soldiers -- stand at three gavyutis' distance, not reaching as far as me. You, standing there, cannot be overcome even by the gods with Vasava, let alone all the Pandavas; take heart, O lord of Sindhu."
d538857c6604 · published Jul 19, 2026, 3:45:02 PM UTC
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A massive defense -- six of the greatest warriors, a hundred thousand horses, myriads of elephants and foot -- is summoned to shelter a single man. "Tatrasthaṃ tvāṃ na saṃsoḍhuṃ śaktā devāḥ savāsavāḥ," "not even the gods with Indra can overcome you where you stand." But the very scale of the shield betrays its doom: an entire army against one avenger, at whose side stands the Lord. The verse teaches that no mass of strength saves one whose death has been decreed by the highest will: the grander the shelter for the guilty, the more plainly its futility will be exposed; for against the will of God even the gods are powerless, let alone armies.