तेषां दशसहस्राणि रथानाम् अनुयायिनाम् ॥
अभीषाहाः शूरसेनाः शिबयो ऽथ वसातयः ॥
माचेल्लका ललित्थाश् च केकया मद्रकास् तथा ॥
नारायणाश् च गोपालाः काम्बोजानां च ये गणाः ॥
कर्णेन विजिताः पूर्वं संग्रामे शूरसंमताः ॥
भारद्वाजं पुरस्कृत्य त्यक्तात्मानो ऽर्जुनं प्रति ॥
teṣāṃ daśasahasrāṇi rathānām anuyāyinām ||
abhīṣāhāḥ śūrasenāḥ śibayo 'tha vasātayaḥ ||
mācellakā lalitthāś ca kekayā madrakās tathā ||
nārāyaṇāś ca gopālāḥ kāmbojānāṃ ca ye gaṇāḥ ||
karṇena vijitāḥ pūrvaṃ saṃgrāme śūrasaṃmatāḥ ||
bhāradvājaṃ puraskṛtya tyaktātmāno 'rjunaṃ prati ||
Ten thousand chariots of their followers — the Abhīṣāhas, the Śūrasenas, the Śibis, the Vasātis, the Mācellakas and the Lalitthas, the Kekayas and the Madrakas, the Nārāyaṇas and the Gopālas, and whatever bands of the Kambojas there were, formerly conquered by Karṇa, acknowledged brave in battle — placing Bharadvāja's son in front, sparing not their lives, stood against Arjuna.
a931b972f458 · published Jul 19, 2026, 3:45:02 PM UTC
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The list of tribes, "tyaktātmānaḥ arjunaṃ prati," sparing not their lives against Arjuna, shows the stubbornness of an unrighteous cause: multitudes of the brave are ready to fall in order to shield the guilty. "Karṇena vijitāḥ pūrvam," formerly conquered by Karṇa, they are now the instrument of another's wrongdoing. It is telling that the valor of many is spent defending a single act of lawlessness. The verse teaches that an unrighteous cause drags many worthy men to their deaths: brave peoples who give their lives not for truth but to shelter the guilty perish in vain; and the greatest calamity of unrighteousness is that it destroys even those who are brave but deceived by the side they have joined.