Verse 1.10

अपर्याप्तं तदस्माकं बलं भीष्माभिरक्षितम् ।

पर्याप्तं त्विदमेतेषां बलं भीमाभिरक्षितम् ॥

1.10

Transliteration

aparyāptaṃ tadasmākaṃ balaṃ bhīṣmābhirakṣitam |

paryāptaṃ tvidameteṣāṃ balaṃ bhīmābhirakṣitam ||

By Sanskrit System · Machine draft · @indic-transliteration/sanscript 1.3.3

Translation

"This army of ours marshalled by Bhishma is insufficient, whereas that army of theirs marshelled by Bhima is sufficient.

From the owner's sheet · +1 more

Word by word

unlimited
that
our
strength
guarded by Bhishma

limited
but
this
of theirs
strength
guarded by Bhima

By Sanskrit System · Machine draft · claude-opus-5-5 · 2026-11-08

Explanation

This verse turns on the words aparyāpta and paryāpta, which can mean unlimited and limited, or insufficient and sufficient. Read one way, Duryodhana boasts that his army is vast while the Pandava force is small. Read the other way, he admits that his army, under the aged Bhishma, is inadequate, while theirs, under Bhima, is enough. Both readings have long been held, and the ambiguity suits the moment. Duryodhana's words sound confident, yet the whole passage betrays a mind that is not at ease.