Chapter 1 · Verse 8·Spoken by Sanjaya
भवान्भीष्मश्च कर्णश्च कृपश्च समितिञ्जयः। अश्वत्थामा विकर्णश्च सौमदत्तिस्तथैव च
bhavānbhīṣhmaśhcha karṇaśhcha kṛipaśhcha samitiñjayaḥ aśhvatthāmā vikarṇaśhcha saumadattis tathaiva cha
There is your good self, and Bhishma, and Karna, and Kripa, ever victorious in battle; Ashvatthama, Vikarna, and the son of Somadatta.
Word by Word
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Sanskrit recitation by Swami Brahmānanda
Audio from the Gītā Supersite, IIT Kanpur
Synthesis · a glossed leaf
machine-assisted draft, pending review
Convergence
his verse is still Duryodhana speaking, and he is going down the list of the great fighters on his own side. He names them one by one: yourself (addressed to Drona, his teacher), Bhishma, Karna, Kripa, Ashvatthama, Vikarna, and Saumadatti. The commentators simply read the line as this roll-call of Kaurava commanders, each name a leader Duryodhana is counting on. The word 'samitinjaya' attached to Kripa means 'conqueror in battle,' an epithet of praise for a proven warrior.
Śrī Ānandagiri · Dhanapati Sūri · Śrī Puruṣottama · Śrīdhara Svāmī · Lokmanya Tilak
Several commentators pause to tell the reader exactly who these less famous names are, since the story assumes you already know them. Vikarna is one of Duryodhana's own brothers, a son of Dhritarashtra. Saumadatti means 'the son of Somadatta,' that is, Bhurishravas. These small identifications matter because the point of the verse is the weight of the people listed: Duryodhana is not naming strangers but his closest kin and most trusted champions.
Śrī Nīlakaṇṭha · Dhanapati Sūri · Lokmanya Tilak
The naming is not neutral; it has a purpose inside Duryodhana's own mind. He recites his commanders to steady himself, to push back his own fear by reminding himself how strong his side is. So the verse, read at this level, shows a man trying to talk himself into confidence by counting his assets out loud.
Śrī Ānandagiri
Divergence
Advaita Vedānta
These commentators read the roll-call closely for its inner logic and its grammar. One holds that Duryodhana enumerates his own leaders precisely to remove his own fear, so the list is a self-reassurance, not a battlefield boast. Another reads the syntax with care: the epithet 'samitinjaya' (conqueror in battle) is grammatically shared, applying across both armies by a rule that lets a middle word govern what stands on either side of it; and its placement just after Karna and beside Kripa is deliberate, so that Kripa and Ashvatthama are not slighted by being named without praise. On this reading the verse rewards attention to how the words are arranged and to the speaker's psychology.
Śrī Ānandagiri · Dhanapati Sūri
Bhedabheda
This commentator does not treat the named warriors as the whole of Duryodhana's claim. He reads the verse as opening outward: these are not the only ones; there are many other heroes too, ready to give up their lives for his sake, wielding many kinds of weapons and skilled in every mode of war. So the verse is taken as the leading edge of a longer boast that runs past this single line, with the named champions standing for a far larger host.
Śrī Bhāskara
Modern
This commentator alone dwells on what makes these men so formidable, voicing Duryodhana's own confidence from the inside. Bhishma and Drona are extraordinary, with no third like them anywhere; if either fights at full strength, no being, divine or otherwise, can stand against him. Bhishma in particular was a lifelong celibate and 'iccha-mrtyu,' one who dies only at his own will, so no one can kill him without his consent. Karna too is a truly great warrior; in Duryodhana's conviction Karna alone could defeat the Pandava army, and against him even Arjuna can do nothing. On this reading the verse is Duryodhana savoring the sheer power gathered on his side.
Swami Ramsukhdas
A Seeker Asks
If these named warriors really were so unbeatable, why does Duryodhana lose, and what does the verse want me to notice about a confidence built on counting one's strengths?
Notice first what the verse is actually showing: a man reciting his assets to steady his own nerve. The list is read as a way to remove his own fear, which means the confidence here is something Duryodhana is manufacturing, not something settled. A mind that has to count its strengths out loud is a mind that is not at rest.
Śrī Ānandagiri
The strengths themselves were real, and the verse does not pretend otherwise. Bhishma was 'iccha-mrtyu,' able to die only by his own will, and Karna was a warrior Duryodhana believed could beat the Pandavas single-handed; these were genuinely among the most formidable men alive. So the verse is honest that the Kaurava side was powerful. The lesson is not that the assets were illusory but that overwhelming strength, counted up as proof of certain victory, is exactly what a confident wrong cause leans on.
Swami Ramsukhdas
And the boast does not even hold itself to this list; it spills into 'many other heroes too, ready to give up their lives for my sake.' That swelling tally is the tell. The verse sets up the whole Gita by showing confidence at its peak right before it cracks, so that when Arjuna's own certainty collapses a few verses later, the reader has already watched what counting one's strengths is worth.
Śrī Bhāskara
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