Bhagavad Gita Chapter 11, Verse 26

Chapter 11 – Vishvarupa Darshana Yoga · Speaker: Arjuna

Sanskrit verse

अमी च त्वां धृतराष्ट्रस्य पुत्राः
सर्वे सहैवावनिपालसङ्घैः ।
भीष्मो द्रोणः सूतपुत्रस्तथासौ
सहास्मदीयैरपि योधमुख्यैः ॥

Transliteration

amī ca tvāṃ dhṛtarāṣṭrasya putrāḥ sarve sahaivāvanipālasaṅghaiḥ .
bhīṣmo droṇaḥ sūtaputrastathāsau sahāsmadīyairapi yodhamukhyaiḥ ॥

Meaning

And all these sons of Dhritarashtra, together with the hosts of kings, Bhishma, Drona and that son of a charioteer, Karna, along with the chief warriors of our own side too, (are rushing into You; the sentence completes in the next verse).

Word meanings

अमी – these
च – and
त्वाम् – into You
धृतराष्ट्रस्य – of Dhritarashtra
पुत्राः – sons
सर्वे – all
सह – together with
एव – indeed
अवनिपालसङ्घैः – with the hosts of kings, protectors of the earth
भीष्मः – Bhishma
द्रोणः – Drona
सूतपुत्रः – the charioteer’s son, Karna
तथा – and also
असौ – that one
अस्मदीयैः – of our side
अपि – also
योधमुख्यैः – with the chief warriors

Anvaya (word order)

अमी च सर्वे धृतराष्ट्रस्य पुत्राः अवनिपालसङ्घैः सह एव, भीष्मः द्रोणः तथा असौ सूतपुत्रः, अस्मदीयैः अपि योधमुख्यैः सह त्वाम् (विशन्ति) ।

Explanation

Until now gods and worlds were entering the Cosmic Form; now Arjuna recognises familiar faces in the vision. All the sons of Dhritarashtra, Duryodhana and his brothers, with their allied kings; Bhishma the grandsire; Drona the teacher; and asau sūtaputraḥ, ‘that charioteer’s son’, Karna. The pronoun asau, ‘that one’, carries feeling: Karna is Arjuna’s greatest rival, and Arjuna sees even him moving toward the same end.

Most poignant is sahāsmadīyair api yodhamukhyaiḥ, ‘with the leading warriors of our side as well.’ This destruction is not partisan. Time is devouring heroes of the Pandava army too. The epic records that Dhrishtadyumna, Virata, Drupada, Abhimanyu, Ghatotkacha and many others on the Pandava side also fell.

The verse is deeply linked to Chapter 1. There Arjuna, seeing Bhishma, Drona and his kinsmen, refused to kill them. Now he sees that their end already lies within Time. In verses 32 and 33 Krishna will say that these warriors have already been slain by Him, and Arjuna should be merely the instrument, nimitta-mātram.

Shankara explains that the Lord is granting Arjuna a vision of the future, to dispel the illusion that the outcome of the war depends on his own choice. Ramanuja reads it as a demonstration that the Lord alone governs all events. Grammatically the verse is incomplete; its verb viśanti, ‘they enter’, comes in verse 27, so the two verses form a single sentence.

Context

After praying for grace in verse 25, Arjuna begins to see the warriors of both armies within the Cosmic Form. The sentence continues into verse 27, where they are seen rushing into the Lord’s terrible mouths.

Life lesson

Outcomes we think lie in our hands are part of a far larger order. Seeing this frees us both from the pride of being the doer and from anxiety about results, so that we can focus on our duty.

Key terms

Avanipāla: protector of the earth; a king
Sūtaputra: son of a charioteer; Karna, raised by Adhiratha
Asmadīya: belonging to our side
Yodhamukhya: chief warrior