O Acharya! Behold this vast and mighty army of the Pandavas, arrayed in battle formation by your intelligent disciple, Dhrishtadyumna, the son of Drupada.
Commentary: By addressing Drona as 'Acharya', Duryodhana's intent is to convey that Drona is the preceptor of them all—both the Kauravas and the Pandavas. As the teacher of martial science, he is the guru of all. Therefore, his mind should harbor no partiality or bias towards anyone.
By using the words 'your intelligent disciple', Duryodhana's sentiment is this: You are so magnanimous that you even taught the science of weapons to Dhrishtadyumna, who was born for the very purpose of slaying you; and that disciple of yours, Dhrishtadyumna, is so intelligent that he learned the science of weapons from you himself in order to kill you. The purpose of saying 'the son of Drupada' is to indicate that it was with the sole aim of killing you that Drupada performed a sacrifice through the priests Yaja and Upayaja, from which Dhrishtadyumna was born. That very son of Drupada, Dhrishtadyumna, now stands before you (on the opposing side) as the commander. Although Duryodhana could have said 'Dhrishtadyumna' here instead of 'the son of Drupada', he uses the term 'the son of Drupada' to remind Dronacharya of the enmity Drupada bore towards him, implying that now is an excellent opportunity to settle that feud.
'Behold this vast and mighty army of the sons of Pandu, arrayed in formation'—behold this immense army of the Pandavas, arrayed in battle formation by the son of Drupada. The implied meaning is that the very Pandavas, for whom you hold affection, have appointed as their commander the son of Drupada, who is specifically destined to kill you, and have given him the authority to arrange the battle formation. If the Pandavas held affection for you, they would not, at the very least, have made the one destined to kill you the chief commander of their army; they would not have given him such authority. Yet, knowing everything, they have appointed him as the commander.
Although the Pandava army was smaller in number compared to the Kauravas'—the Kaurava army being eleven *akshauhinis* and the Pandava army seven *akshauhinis*—Duryodhana is describing the Pandava army as vast and mighty. In calling the Pandava army vast and mighty, two sentiments are discernible:
(1) The Pandava army was arrayed in such a formation that it appeared immensely large to Duryodhana, even though it was smaller; and (2) All the warriors in the Pandava army were united in purpose. Due to this unity, even the smaller Pandava army appeared great in strength and enthusiasm. By showing such an army, Duryodhana wishes to tell Dronacharya that during the battle, he should not consider this army ordinary or small. He should fight with special effort and caution.
The commander of the Pandavas is, after all, your own disciple, the son of Drupada; so what great feat is it for you to defeat him!
The intent of saying 'behold this' is that this Pandava army stands ready for battle. Therefore, you should decide as quickly as possible how we can achieve victory over this army.
Context: Having requested Dronacharya to observe the Pandava army, Duryodhana now proceeds to point out the great warriors of the Pandava army to him.
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