Why did Duryodhana mention specific warrior names in the Bhagwat Gita, Chapter-1?

Question

Bhagwat gita Chapter 1, verses. 3 to 9.

Pashyaitaam paanduputraanaam aachaarya mahateem chamoom;
Vyoodhaam drupadaputrena tava shishyena dheemataa.3.

“Behold, O Teacher, this mighty army of the sons of Pandu, arraged by the son of Drupada, thy wise disciple!

Atra shooraa maheshwaasaa bheemaarjunasamaa yudhi;
Yuyudhaano viraatashcha drupadashcha mahaarathah.4.

“Here are heroes, mighty archers, equal in battle to Bhima and Arjuna, Yuyudhana, Virata and Drupada, of the great car (mighty warriors).

Dhrishtaketush chekitaanah kaashiraajashcha veeryavaan;
Purujit kuntibhojashcha shaibyashcha narapungavah.5.

“Drishtaketu, Chekitana and the valiant king of Kasi, Purujit, and Kuntibhoja and Saibya, the best of men,

Yudhaamanyushcha vikraanta uttamaujaashcha veeryavaan;
Saubhadro draupadeyaashcha sarva eva mahaarathaah.6.

“The strong Yudhamanyu and the brave Uttamaujas, the son of Subhadra (Abhimanyu, the son of Arjuna), and the sons of Draupadi, all of great chariots (great heroes).

Asmaakam tu vishishtaa ye taan nibodha dwijottama;
Naayakaah mama sainyasya samjnaartham taan braveemi te.7.

“Know also, O best among the twice-born, the names of those who are the most distinguished amongst ourselves, the leaders of my army! These I name to thee for thy information.

Bhavaan bheeshmashcha karnashcha kripashcha samitinjayah;
Ashwatthaamaa vikarnashcha saumadattis tathaiva cha.8.

“Thyself and Bhishma, and Karna and Kripa, the victorious in war; Asvatthama, Vikarna, and Jayadratha, the son of Somadatta.

Anye cha bahavah shooraa madarthe tyaktajeevitaah;
Naanaashastrapraharanaah sarve yuddhavishaaradaah.9.

“And also many other heroes who have given up their lives for my sake, armed with various weapons and missiles, all well skilled in battle.

In above verses, King Duryodhana went to his teacher(Dhronacharya) and began to speak the following words:

O my teacher, behold the great army of the sons of Pandu, so expertly arranged by your intelligent disciple, the son of Drupada(Dhrishtadumnya). Here in this army there are many heroic bowmen equal in fighting to Bhima and Arjuna; there are also great fighters like Yuyudhana, Virata and Drupada. There are also great, heroic, powerful fighters like Dhristaketu, Cekitana, Kasiraja, Purujit, Kuntibhoja and Saibya. There are the mighty Yudhamanyu, the very powerful Uttamauja, the son of Subhadra (Abhimanyu) and the sons of Draupadi. All these warriors are great chariot fighters. O best of the brahmanas, for your information, let me tell you about the captains who are especially qualified to lead my military force. There are personalities like yourself(Dhronacharya), Bhisma, Karna, Kripa, Asvatthama, Vikarna and the son of Somadatta called Bhurisrava, who are always victorious in battle. There are many other heroes who are prepared to lay down their lives for my sake. All of them are well equipped with different kinds of weapons, and all are experienced in military science.

My questions:

• What was the purpose of Duryodhana to mention these specific warrior names in above verses?

• What is the significance of above mentioned warriors in Mahabharata war?

UPDATE:
As I know about how Dhrishtadumnya, Virata, Drupada, Kasiraja, Kuntibhoja, Dhronacharya, Karna, Kripa, Asvatthama, Vikarna, Dhristaketu,and Yuyudhana related to KURU's but I want to know about the relation of kurus with Cekitana, Purujit, Saibya, Yudhamanyu, Uttamauja and Bhurisrava.

• How did they related to Kurus?

As all of you might know that the Bhagwat gita is the conversations in between Lord Krishna and Arjuna. Where Lord krishna is giving the knowledge of Karma to Arjuna then,

• What was the need to include above names in the Bhagwat Gita chapter-1? Is lord wants to give any kind of message from this?

Answer 1

The following is translated from the Bhagavad Gita lectures of Shri Bannanje Govindacharya (who is a highly respected scholar belonging to the Madhwacharya lineage) in Kannada.

The first chapter has been wrongly named by modern commentators as Arjuna-vishaada yoga -- there is nothing yogic about "vishaada" and the chapter starts with a brilliant exposition on the fear and despondency of Duryodhana. In fact, Madhwa's Gita-Bhaashya does not refer to this chapter as Arjuna-vishaada yoga or by any other name. This chapter is an exposition on psychology and utterly exposes Duryodhana's mental state before the start of the war.

Duyodhana names these warriors because he is scared and fully upset. He cannot believe his eyes when he sees them in the Pandava army and he believes some of them should have been fighting on his side. Let's see why.

1. Bhima, Arjuna, and Krishna were the only warriors capable of lifting the gANDiva bow. By comparing everyone to Bhima and Arjuna (bhimaarjuna samaH yudiH), he shows his fear of the Pandavas, and especially, his fear of Bhima and Arjuna. Ultimately, it was Bhima who killed him.
2. He starts off by naming the "son of Drupada" who was Drona's student. Drupada and Drona were once great friends. However, when DroNa went to Drupada (who at the time was a great king)and asked him for a cow so that he could give his son some milk, Drupada made fun of him and said that he could not be friends with Drona (who was a poor brahmaNa at that time). Drona, then with the help of the Pandavas (who were his students) snatched half of Drupada's kingdom. Drupada, then sent his son, Dhrishtadumnya to study under Drona and Drona taught him everything he knew! Also, Drupada had given his daughter Draupadi to the Pandavas, and thus, he was fighting alongside the Pandavas. Duryodhana names Drupada and Dhrishtadumnya to spite Drona and remind him of his past with Drupada and the fact that he taught his enemy's son everything he knew!
3. Drishtiketu was the son of Shishupala and we know that Shishupala was killed by Krishna in the rAjasUya yagna. Then why on earth is his son fighting on Krishna;s side? Again, this question is killing Duryodhana internally.
4. Shaibya was the king of Shibi. Shaibya's son and Jayadrata tried to kidnap Draupadi, and was subsequently killed by Bhima. Under such circumstances, shouldn't he side with the Kauravas? No -- he fights for the Pandavas and this does not go down well with Duryodhana.
5. Yuyudhaana (Saataki) and Chekitana were bound to the words of Balarama who declared that he will not fight in the war and went away on a pilgrimage. However, they were fighting for the Pandavas and this did not seem right to Duryodhana.
6. Kashiraja : Kashi at that time had two kings (rulers of the two lands of VaraNa and Asi) -- one who was Bhima's father-in-law and the other was Duryodhana's father-in-law. Duryodhana's father-in-law had been killed by Krishna in an earlier war, and thus, the Kashiraja being mentioned here is Bheema's father-in-law. He feels sad that his father-in-law (and army) is not with him.
7. Purujit and Kuntibhoja belonged to the land of Kunti. Kunti's original name was Pratu and she was Vasudeva's sister. She was adopted by the king of Kunti (kunti-desha) and due to this relationship, Purujit and Kuntibhoja were fighting for the Pandavas.
8. Virata was ruling under the fear of Keechaka. Bheema killed Keechaka and liberated Virata, else that entire army would have been with Duryodhana.
9. Yudhamanyu and Uttamauja were sons of Drupada too. Abhimanyu and the five sons of Draupadi were approximately 13-18 years old at the time of the war. Duryodhana refers to them as maharathas despite their young age and his tremendous experience in battle. This goes to show how mentally disturbed he was at that time.

Coming to the Kauravas, Duryodhana names Dronacharya, Bhisma, Karna, Kripa, Asvatthama, Vikarna.

10. Drona, Bheeshma, Kripacharya and Asvatthama are all Brahmanas (despite fighting like kshtriyas). Duryodhana is scared that they will abandon their posts in light of their brahminical duties (after all, timely prayers and yagnas are the duties of of a brahmaNa). The other side is glittering with kshtriyas, whereas I (Duryodhana) am going into battle with four brahmaNas!!
11. Ashwattama also tried hard to stop the war and offered to mediate with the Pandavas and now Duryodhana had to go into battle with him! Ashwattama's innocence and brahminical qualities were displayed when he once went and requested Krishna for the Sudharshan chakra because he had heard that Krishna could only be killed by that!
12. Karna having been insulted by Bheeshma, had vowed not to fight until Bheeshma died. Now, how does one go into battle with such a friend?
13. Vikarna is Duryodhana's brother. So, why does Duryodhana name VikarNa and not his 98 other brothers? It comes in the Mahabharatha, that while Draupadi's vastra-haraNa was taking place, the only Kaurava to object loudly was Vikarna, who was nothing but an attention-seeker. He felt, that if he vocally objects to this act, he will be considered a wise person. Duryodhana remembers that occassion and thinks to himself, "If this Vikarna decides to drop his weapons, and denounces the war just to seek false attention, then what will I do?". That is why Duryodhana names Vikarna. This again establishes the mental state of Duryodhana as that of a completely defeated and heart-broken person.

Subsequent to this, Duryodhana has a complete breakdown in the 10th shloka, where he says that the Kaurava army is inadequate despite having 11 akshohinis and the Pandava army is well-equipped despite having only 7 akshohinis. Very often, this shloka is translated is wrongly (with the word aparyaptam being translated as undefeatable) [please refer to Raghavendra Tirtha's Gita Vivrutti (16th century), where he notes this verse is often wrongly translated].

The first chapter of the Bhagavad Gita goes to show what fear and self-doubt can do to a person. It also shows that Duryodhana was mentally defeated even before the war began.

Citation: Bannanje Govindacharya's lectures on the Bhagavad Gita in Kannada (especially parts 1 - 5 that deal with this question) can be found here: http://www.kannadaaudio.com/Songs/Discourses/home/Bhagavadgeeta-1.php.

Answer 2

1.

The purpose of Duryodhana to mention these specific warrior names in above verse is that Duryodhana Has never letdown the power of a Gallant in any places of the Mahabharata, And it's a big aspect of a warrior.

2.

All warriors like Arjuna, Bhima, Nakula, Sahdeva ,Yudhisthira, Bhisma, Drona, Vikarna, Duryodhana and various others of both sides are great warriors with strange skills but they are bounded by either there king's wish or there oath or something like that but all of them had war somewhere inside there heart.

3.

• Chekitana was a yadav maharathi and one of the seven commanders of pandavas.
• Purujit and Kuntibhoj are brothers of Kunti.
• Saibya was the father in law of Yudhisthira.
• Yudhamanyu and Uttamauja were two brothers and princes of Panchal.
• Bhurishrava the son of Somedatta was the grandson of King Santanu's elder brother.

4.

The first chapter of Bhagwat Gita is named Arjunvisadyoga and in this chapter mainly the disenchant of Arjuna is described. All of the warriors have some specific skills but they are still mislead due to disenchant.The aim mentioning there names here is to describe the darkness of disenchant.

Answer 3

This is what I found - http://www.holy-bhagavad-gita.org/chapter/1/verse/3

Duryodhan diplomatically pointed to his military preceptor, Dronacharya, the mistake committed by him in the past. Dronacharya had once had a political quarrel with King Drupad. Angered by the quarrel, Drupad performed a sacrifice, and received a boon to beget a son who would be able to kill Dronacharya. As a result of this boon, Dhrishtadyumna was born to him.

Although Dronacharya knew the purpose of Dhrishtadyumna’s birth, yet out of his large-heartedness, when Dhrishtadyumna was entrusted to him for military education, he did not hesitate to impart all his knowledge to him. Now, in the battle, Dhrishtadyumna had taken the side of the Pandavas as the commander-in-chief of their army, and he was the one who had arranged their military phalanx. Duryodhan thus hinted to his teacher that his lenience in the past had gotten them into the present trouble, and that he should not display any further lenience in fighting the Pandavas now.