Devanagari
योत्स्यमानानवेक्षेऽहं य एतेऽत्र समागताः ।
धार्तराष्ट्रस्य दुर्बुद्धेर्युद्धे प्रियचिकीर्षवः ॥ २३ ॥
Verse text
yotsyamānān avekṣe ’haṁ
ya ete ’tra samāgatāḥ
dhārtarāṣṭrasya durbuddher
yuddhe priya-cikīrṣavaḥ
Synonyms
yotsyamānān
—
those who will be fighting
;
avekṣe
—
let me see
;
aham
—
I
;
ye
—
who
;
ete
—
those
;
atra
—
here
;
samāgatāḥ
—
assembled
;
dhārtarāṣṭrasya
—
for the son of Dhṛtarāṣṭra
;
durbuddheḥ
—
evil-minded
;
yuddhe
—
in the fight
;
priya
—
well
;
cikīrṣavaḥ
—
wishing.
Translation
Let me see those who have come here to fight, wishing to please the evil-minded son of Dhṛtarāṣṭra.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
20-23. O King, then, as the armies prepared to fight, Arjuna with Hanumān’s insignia on his flag, seeing the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra standing there, taking his bow in hand, spoke to Hṛṣīkeśa: O Acyuta please station my chariot between the two armies, so I can view at the commencement of the war those situated with a desire to fight, and those with whom I should fight. I see that those who have gathered here, desiring to please the foolish sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra, are intent on fighting.
Translation (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)
20-23. O King, then, as the armies prepared to fight, Arjuna with Hanuman insignia on his flag, seeing the sons of Dhṛtrāṣṭra standing there, taking his bow in hand, spoke to Hṛṣīkeśa: O Acyuta, please station my chariot between the two armies, so I can view at the commencement of the war those standing desirous of fighting, and those with whom I should fight. I believe that those who have gathered here, desiring to please the foolish sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra, are intent on fighting.
Translation (Bhurijana Dasa)
Let me see those who have come here to fight, wishing to please the evil‑minded son of Dhrtarastra.
(cn/DS) 'Birds of the same feather flock together.'
Purport
It was an open secret that Duryodhana wanted to usurp the kingdom of the Pāṇḍavas by evil plans, in collaboration with his father, Dhṛtarāṣṭra. Therefore, all persons who had joined the side of Duryodhana must have been birds of the same feather. Arjuna wanted to see them on the battlefield before the fight was begun, just to learn who they were, but he had no intention of proposing peace negotiations with them. It was also a fact that he wanted to see them to make an estimate of the strength which he had to face, although he was quite confident of victory because Kṛṣṇa was sitting by his side.
Purport (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)
Mahīpate means “O Dhṛtarāstra.”
Arjuna then spoke.
“O Acyuta, you do not deviate from your innate nature—from your affection for your devotee, or from your supreme power. Controlled by this quality, without fear, place my chariot according my words, the words of your devotee.” He then speaks of the purpose of doing so. ‘Place the chariot so that I can see who are situated firmly, not trembling in fear (avasthitān), who are desirous of fighting (yoddu kamān), with no desire for compromise.”
“But you are fighter, not a spectator. What will be accomplished by viewing this?”
“I wish to see at the beginning of the battle those friends and relatives in whose company I will fight, and those friends and relatives against whom I will fight. For that purpose, place my chariot between the two armies. ”
“Out of friendship they will make peace.”
“No, there will be no conciliation between the two sides. I believe (avekṣe) that they are intent on fighting (yotsyamānām). They are intent on fighting, desiring to please the son of Dhṛtarāstra who is unintelligent (durbuddheḥ), ignorant of means for his own survival (ignorant that he is going to die), even in face of this war, which does not sober his intelligence. Therefore my viewing the rival party in war has been justified. ”