Chapter1 Verse - 4

 Verse-4

अत्र शूरा महेष्वासा भीमार्जुनसमा युधि
युयुधानो विराटश्च द्रुपदश्च महारथ: || 4||

Transliteration:

Atra shUrA maheShvAsA bhImArjunasamA yudhi

yuyudhAno virATashca drupadashca maharathaH .. 4..

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Word by word meaning:

अत्र – here , शूरा – Brave people,  महेष्वासा – great bowmen भीमा-अर्जुन-समा – equal to Bhima and Arjuna ; युधि – in the battle ; युयुधानो – YuyudhAna; विराटश्च – King  VirAta; द्रुपदश्च- King Drupada; महारथ:-Great charioteers

Meaning :

Here are brave warriors and great bowmen equal to Bhima and Arjuna , the army also has MahArathis like Yuyudhana, King Virata and King Drupada.

Significance:

                                     The word ‘atra – here’ is used to mention the Pandava army. Duryodhana attempts to name the warriors in the opposition army. He is always amused by the skill of Arjuna, and that is one reason for him to keep Karna by his side. He expresses his thought by the word ‘महेष्वासा- great bowmen’ , with the mention of both Bhima and Arjuna . An armies strength is determined by the number of Rathis and MahArathis.

                        Rathi - A person who can fight with 5000 warriors at a time. MahArathi – is a person who is well versed in ShAstra-s and shastra-s. A mahArathi can fight with 12 athirathis single handedly ;

                       Yuyudhana – also known as Satyaki, is the son of ‘sini’, a yadava king. He is a student of Arjuna, a Adhirathi . He survived in the Mahabharata yuddha. Virata – King of Matsya , father of Uttara, Abhimanyu’s wife. It is in his place the Pandavas spent their 1 year of agyathavasa. He sacrificed his life in the Mahabharata war. Drupada – King of Pancala, son of ‘Prishata’- who is a friend of Rishi Bharadwaja, disciple of Rishi Bharadwaja. He is the father of Draupadi and Dhrishtadyumna.  He died in the war in the hands of Drona.