Bhagavad Gita 1.8
Spoken by Sanjaya · Verse 8 of 47
भवान् भीष्मश्च कर्णश्च कृपश्च समितिञ्जयः। अश्वत्थामा विकर्णश्च सौमदत्तिस्तथैव च॥
bhavān bhīṣmaś ca karṇaś ca kṛpaś ca samitiṃjayaḥ / aśvatthāmā vikarṇaś ca saumadattis tathaiva ca
Duryodhana lists his greatest champions — and every name carries its own tragic irony.
Word by word (8)
- bhavān
- — yourself / Your Honour (Drona) · Duryodhana lists Drona himself first among his own forces — this is flattery but also truth. Drona is arguably the greatest warrior-teacher alive.
- bhīṣmaḥ
- — Bhishma — the grandsire, greatest warrior of his age · Bhishma (born Devavrata) took the terrible vow of celibacy to secure the throne for his father's new wife's sons. He is the moral and military anchor of the Kaurava side.
- karṇaḥ
- — Karna — Arjuna's rival, secretly the eldest Pandava · Karna's presence is one of the great tragic ironies: he fights against his own brothers without knowing they are his brothers, born of Kunti.
- kṛpaḥ
- — Kripa — Drona's brother-in-law
- samitiṃ-jayaḥ
- — ever-victorious in battle
- aśvatthāmā
- — Ashvatthama — Drona's son
- vikarṇaḥ
- — Vikarna — one of Duryodhana's brothers who spoke against the dice game
- saumadattiḥ
- — Bhurishravas, son of Somadatta
Duryodhana names his side's greatest warriors: Drona himself, Bhishma the grandsire, Karna the matchless archer, Kripa the always-victorious, Ashvatthama (Drona's son), Vikarna, and Somadatta's son Bhurishravas.
A modern analogy
A general listing his finest commanders — experienced, capable, battle-tested. On paper, this is an impressive list. And yet each name in this list has a complicating story. In real conflict, people are never just their capabilities.
Take with you
- Even the most capable team can be undone by conflicting loyalties, hidden truths, and moral compromises.
- Bhishma, the greatest warrior here, is fighting for a side he knows is wrong — because of a vow. The cost of wrong commitments is immense.
- Karna, unknown to himself, is fighting against his own brothers — the tragedy of identity misplaced.
Public-domain translations (2) compare all →
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
How do you raise a weapon against the teacher who made you?
Daivī wealth begins: abhaya, sattva-śuddhi, jñāna-yoga, dāna, dama, yajña, svādhyāya, tapa, ārjava.
I would rather be killed than kill them — a statement of love that goes beyond self-preservation.
Better to die with clean hands than to win with blood on them.
Three gates to hell, destructive of the self: kāma, krodha, lobha. Therefore abandon this triad.
A blind king asks what happened on the battlefield — and the Gita begins.
Verse 8 of 47 · back to Chapter 1