Verses 1.4-6

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verses 1.4-6:

अत्र शूरा महेष्वासा भीमार्जुन-समा युधि ।
युयुधानो विराटश् च द्रुपदश् च महा-रथः ॥ ४ ॥
धृष्ट-केतुश् चेकितानः काशि-राजश् च वीर्यवान् ।
पुरुजित् कुन्तिभोजश् च शैब्यश् च नर-पुङ्गवः ॥ ५ ॥
युधामन्युश् च विक्रान्त उत्तमौजाश् च वीर्यवान् ।
सौभद्रो द्रौपदेयाश् च सर्व एव महा-रथाः ॥ ६ ॥

atra śūrā maheṣvāsā bhīmārjuna-samā yudhi |
yuyudhāno virāṭaś ca drupadaś ca mahā-rathaḥ || 4 ||
dhṛṣṭa-ketuś cekitānaḥ kāśi-rājaś ca vīryavān |
purujit kuntibhojaś ca śaibyaś ca nara-puṅgavaḥ || 5 ||
yudhāmanyuś ca vikrānta uttamaujāś ca vīryavān |
saubhadro draupadeyāś ca sarva eva mahā-rathāḥ || 6 ||

atra–present; śūrāḥ–heroes; mahā-iṣu-āsāḥ–great bowmen; bhīma-arjuna–to Bhīma and Arjuna; samāḥ–equal; yudhi–in battle; yuyudhānaḥ–Sātyaki; virāṭaḥ–the king of Virāṭa; ca–and; drupadaḥ–Drupada;ca–also; mahā-rathaḥ–the great chariot fighter; dhṛṣṭa-ketuḥ–Dhṛṣṭaketu; cekitānaḥ–Cekitāna; kāśirājaḥ–Kāśirāja, the king of Kāśī (Vārāṇasī); ca–and; vīryavān–heroic; purujit–Purujit; kuntibhojaḥ–Kuntibhoja; ca–and; śaibyaḥ–Śaibhya; ca–and; nara-puṅgavaḥ–the best of men; yudhāmanyuḥ–Yudhāmanyu; ca–and; vikrāntaḥ–achiever of victory; uttamaujāḥ–Uttamaujā; ca–and; vīrya-vān–heroic; saubhadraḥ–Abhimanyu, son of Subhadrā; draupadeyāḥ–the sons of Draupadī, such as Pratibindhya; ca–and; sarve–all; eva–these; mahā-rathāḥ–warriors who can fight against huge opposition.

Present in this army are mighty bowmen, such as Sātyaki, King Virāṭa and the great warrior Drupada, who are equal in combat to Arjuna and Bhīma. Also present are Dhṛṣṭaketu and Cekitāna, the heroic king of Kāśi, Purujit, Kuntibhoja, the most valiant Śaibya, and other noble men, such as the victorious Yudhāmanyu, the heroic Uttamaujā and Abhimanyu, as well as Pratibindhya and the other sons of Draupadī. All of these are mahārathīs who can fight against huge opposition.

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Ṭīkā

(By Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura; the innermost intention of the commentary named ‘the shower of essential meanings’)

Here the word maheṣvāsāḥ means that all these great warriors carry strong bows that cannot be broken by the enemy. The word yuyudhāna refers to Sātyaki. Saubhadraḥ refers to Abhimanyu, the son of Subhadra, and draupadeyāḥ indicates the sons of the five Pāṇḍavas born from Draupadī, who are headed by Pratibindhya.

The characteristics of a mahārathī are now described. One who can fight alone against unlimited warriors is known as an atirathī. Among great warriors who are expert in warfare, one who can fight against ten thousand bowmen single-handedly is called a mahārathī. One who can only fight with a single person is known as a yoddhā, and one who requires assistance to defeat a single opponent is called an ardharathī.

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Prakāśikā-vṛtti

(By Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja; the explanation that illuminates the commentary named Sārārtha-varṣiṇī)

Yuyudhāna: Yuyudhāna is another name for the heroic Sātyaki. He was a very dear servant of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, extremely valiant and an atirathī among the commanders-in-chief of the Yādava army. He learned the secrets of weaponry from Arjuna. In the Mahābhārata conflict, he fought on the side of the Pāṇḍavas.

Virāṭa: Virāṭa was the pious king of the land of Matsya. The Pāṇḍavas spent one year incognito under his shelter. His daughter Uttarā later married Abhimanyu, the famous son of Arjuna. Virāṭa was killed in the Mahābhārata War along with his sons Uttara, Sveta and Śaṅkha.

Drupada: Drupada was the son of Pṛṣata, the king of Pāñcāla. Since Mahārāja Pṛṣata and Maharṣi Bharadvāja, the father of Droṇācārya, were friends, Drupada and Droṇācārya were also friends in their childhood. Later, when Drupada became king, Droṇācārya approached him for financial help, but Drupada did not properly respect him. Droṇācārya could not forget this disrespect. When Arjuna completed his education in warfare, Droṇācārya asked Arjuna to capture Drupada and offer him at Droṇa’s feet, as guru-dakṣiṇā, an offering to one’s guru. Arjuna followed his order. Droṇācārya took half of Drupada’s kingdom and then released him. To avenge this insult, Drupada performed a fire sacrifice in which Draupadī and Dhṛṣṭadyumna appeared from the fire.

Cekitāna: Cekitāna was a Yādava in the dynasty of Vṛṣṇi. He was a very chivalrous mahārathī and was one of the commanders-in-chief of the Pāṇḍava army. In the Mahābhārata War, he met his death at the hands of Duryodhana.

Kāśirāja: Kāśirāja was the king of Kāśī (present day Vārāṇasī). He was born from a part of the demon named Dīrghajihva. A valiant and courageous hero, he fought on the side of the Pāṇḍavas.

Purujit and Kuntibhoja: Purujit and Kuntibhoja were brothers of Kuntī, the mother of the Pāṇḍavas, and were thus the maternal uncles of the Pāṇḍavas. In the Mahābhārata War, they were killed by Droṇācārya.

Śaibya: Śaibya was the father-in-law of Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira. His daughter Devikā was married to Yudhiṣṭhira Mahārāja. He is known as nara-puṅgava, the best of men, and was recognized as a powerful, heroic warrior.

Yudhāmanyu and Uttamaujā: The valiant, powerful blood-brothers Yudhāmanyu and Uttamaujā were princes of the Pāñcāla kingdom. At the end of the Mahābhārata War, they were killed by Aśvatthāmā.

Saubhadra: Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s sister, Subhadrā, was married to Arjuna. The heroic Abhimanyu was born from her womb, and therefore he is known as Saubhadra. He received training in weaponry from his father, Arjuna, and from Śrī Balarāma. He was an exceptionally chivalrous hero and a mahārathī. At the time of the Mahābhārata War, he was sixteen years old. In the absence of Arjuna, Abhimanyu alone was able to penetrate the cakra-vyūha, a special wheel-shaped military formation that had been arranged by Droṇācārya. Trapped in this formation, he was unjustly killed by the combined efforts of seven mahārathīs, including Droṇa, Kṛpācārya and Karṇa.

Draupadeya: Draupadī gave birth to a son from each of the five Pāṇḍavas. Their names were Pratibindhya, Sutasoma, Śrutakarmā, Śatānīka and Śrutasena. Collectively, they were known as Draupadeya. Their fathers were Yudhiṣṭhira, Bhīma, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva respectively. At the end of the Mahābhārata war, Aśvatthāmā, desiring to please his friend Duryodhana, murdered these five princes at night as they slept.

In addition to the names of the warriors mentioned by Duryodhana, there were many other mahārathīs in the army of the Pāṇḍavas. Duryodhana has referred to all of them by using the words sarva eva.