Дхритараштра
नातिवृद्धम् अबालं च न कृशं नातिपीवरम् ॥
लघुवृत्तायतप्राणं सारगात्रम् अनामयम् ॥
आत्तसंनाहसंपन्नं बहुशस्त्रपरिच्छदम् ॥
शस्त्रग्रहणविद्यासु बह्वीषु परिनिष्ठितम् ॥
आरोहे पर्यवस्कन्दे सरणे सान्तरप्लुते ॥
सम्यक्प्रहरणे याने व्यपयाने च कोविदम् ॥
nātivṛddham abālaṃ ca na kṛśaṃ nātipīvaram ||
laghuvṛttāyataprāṇaṃ sāragātram anāmayam ||
āttasaṃnāhasaṃpannaṃ bahuśastraparicchadam ||
śastragrahaṇavidyāsu bahvīṣu pariniṣṭhitam ||
ārohe paryavaskande saraṇe sāntaraplute ||
samyakpraharaṇe yāne vyapayāne ca kovidam ||
...neither aged nor young, neither lean nor fat, nimble, well-formed, enduring, strong-bodied, healthy; sound in donned armor, equipped with many weapons, skilled in many sciences of wielding weapons; versed in mounting, in charging, in running, in leaping across a gap, in the true strike, in riding, and in withdrawal.
d236fedf609d · published Jul 19, 2026, 4:02:23 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Dhritarashtra meticulously extols the army's training — every skill is listed, nothing omitted. Yet this fullness of earthly perfection did not avert disaster. It is telling that the more detailed the praise of strength, the more striking its collapse. The verse teaches that no training or equipment guarantees the outcome: worldly perfection, however complete, is powerless where the higher will stands against it — and the catalog of the army's virtues turns into a catalog of futility.