योत्स्यमानानवेक्षेऽहं य एतेऽत्र समागता: |
धार्तराष्ट्रस्य दुर्बुद्धेर्युद्धे प्रियचिकीर्षव: || 23||
yotsyamānān avekṣhe ’haṁ ya ete ’tra samāgatāḥ
dhārtarāṣhṭrasya durbuddher yuddhe priya-chikīrṣhavaḥ
yotsyamānān—those who have come to fight; avekṣhe aham—I desire to see; ye—who; ete—those; atra—here; samāgatāḥ—assembled; dhārtarāṣhṭrasya—of Dhritarashtra’s son; durbuddheḥ—evil-minded; yuddhe—in the fight; priya-chikīrṣhavaḥ—wishing to please
Translation:
I would observe these warriors assembled here for the battle wishing to please the evil-minded Duryodhana.
It had been clearly stipulated that upon the completion of the thirteen years of exile, the Pandavas’ kingdom would be returned to them. During these thirteen years, the kingdom had remained under the control of the Kauravas only as a trust; however, Duryodhana, with the malicious intent of wrongfully seizing the kingdom, backed out of the mutually agreed stipulation entirely. From the beginning of his career up until that moment, Duryodhana had subjected the Pandavas to numerous forms of persecution, but this final act of treachery was wholly intolerable. Reflecting on this malice, Arjuna refers to him as “evil-minded.”
Arjuna’s desire to scrutinize the well-wishers of Duryodhana indicates his awareness that, despite the widely known wrongs and cruelties committed by Duryodhana, these kings had gathered to support his cause and assist him in the fight. This gathering demonstrated that their minds and intellects had been corrupted, aligning with Duryodhana’s evil intentions. By supporting him, they were, in reality, doing him more harm than good. Arjuna, therefore, wanted to see with his own eyes who these fighters were—those who, considering themselves great heroes and eager to participate in the war, had taken their stand on the battlefield. There was a spirit of challenge in Arjuna’s mind when he expressed this desire, as he intended to teach them a lesson that siding with wrong and unrighteousness would not go unpunished.