Shloka 28
Sainyasaṅgraha and Bhāga-Vyavasthā (Forces Assembled and Rival Allocations) | सैन्यसंग्रह-भागव्यवस्था
विद्रुतां वाहिनीं मन्ये कृतवैरैर्महात्मभि: । तां रणे केडनुयास्यन्ति प्रभग्नां पाण्डवैर्युधि
vidrutāṁ vāhinīṁ manye kṛtavairair mahātmabhiḥ | tāṁ raṇe ke 'nuyāsyanti prabhagnāṁ pāṇḍavair yudhi ||
Dhṛtarāṣṭra said: “I foresee our army put to flight. Those great-souled Pāṇḍavas, whose enmity with us has been firmly set, will rout our vast host on the battlefield. When that force has been shattered and driven back by the Pāṇḍavas in war, who will be able to follow it—who will still stand by it and support it?”
धृतराष्ट उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the moral and practical consequence of cultivated hostility: when enmity is deliberately fixed against capable and righteous opponents, it breeds fear, loss of confidence, and the expectation of collapse in one’s own ranks.
Dhṛtarāṣṭra voices anxiety about the coming war, predicting that the Pāṇḍavas will rout the Kaurava forces; he doubts whether anyone will be able to keep formation, pursue, or support the army once it is broken in battle.