Shloka 65
Kaurava Mobilization at Kurukṣetra (Duryodhana Orders War Preparations) / कुरुक्षेत्रे धार्तराष्ट्र-सैन्यसज्जा
जघनार्धे विराटश्न याज्ञसेनिश्ष॒ सौमकि: । सुधर्मा कुन्तिभोजश्व धृष्टद्युम्नस्य चात्मजा:,सेनाके पिछले आधे भागमें राजा विराट, सोमकवंशी द्रुपदकुमार धृष्टद्युम्न, सुधर्मा, कुन्तिभोज और धृष्टद्युम्नके पुत्र जा रहे थे। इनके साथ चालीस हजार रथ, दो लाख घोड़े, चार लाख पैदल और साठ हजार हाथी थे
jaghanārdhe virāṭaś ca yājñaseniś ca saumakiḥ | sudharmā kuntibhojaś ca dhṛṣṭadyumnasya cātmajāḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana said: In the rear division of the army marched King Virāṭa, Yājñasenī, the Somaka prince, Sudharmā, Kuntibhoja, and the sons of Dhṛṣṭadyumna. With them moved a vast force—forty thousand chariots, two hundred thousand horses, four hundred thousand foot-soldiers, and sixty thousand elephants—revealing the ordered might of the allies gathering for the coming conflict.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores collective responsibility and pledged alliance: leaders and allied houses publicly take their places in the army’s formation, embodying kṣatriya-dharma—standing by one’s commitments, protecting one’s side, and preparing in an orderly, disciplined manner for a conflict framed as a contest over justice and rightful conduct.
Vaiśampāyana describes the rear division of the assembled force, naming prominent allies (Virāṭa, Kuntibhoja, Dhṛṣṭadyumna’s sons, etc.) and giving large troop counts (chariots, horses, infantry, elephants), emphasizing the scale and readiness of the coalition as events move toward war.