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Sanjay said: On observing the Pandava army standing in military formation, King Duryodhan approached his teacher Dronacharya, and said the following words.
Sanjay understood Dhritarashtra’s concern, who wanted an assurance that the battle would eventuate. Sanjay tried to allay his worry by informing that the Pandava army was standing in a military formation, ready for battle. Then he moved on to tell him what his son Duryodhana was doing on the battlefield.
As King Dhritarashtra was blind, his eldest son Duryodhana virtually ruled the kingdom of Hastinapur. In the Mahabharata, he is described as very rude, egoistic, evil and cruel by nature. Since his childhood, he had a strong dislike for the Pandavas and left no opportunity to demean them. He was aware that to rule over the entire kingdom of Hastinapur unchallenged he needed to eliminate them. However, standing on the battlefield, when he saw the large Pandava army, he was baffled. He had underestimated the Pandavas, the extent of military might they had gathered was way beyond his expectation.
Duryodhana approached his guru Dronacharya with the pretense of offering respect, but his actual purpose was to palliate his own nervousness. His move towards his guru also reveals that the mammoth military formation of the Pandava army unnerved him and he was now fearful of the outcome of this war.
Verse 3 Duryodhan said: Respected teacher! Behold the mighty army of the sons of Pandu, so expertly arrayed for battle by your own gifted disciple, the son of Drupad.
Duryodhana asked Dronacharya to look at the skillfully arranged military phalanx of the Pandava army led by their commander-in-chief Dhristadyumna, King Dhrupad’s son. He was also one of Dronacharya’s pupils. Duryodhana was subtly reminding his teacher of a mistake he had committed in the past.
Many years back, Dronacharya along with the Pandavas had defeated King Drupad in a battle and took away half his kingdom. To avenge his defeat, Drupad performed a sacrifice to beget a son. Dhristadyumna was born out of that sacrificial fire, with a boon that he would kill Dronacharya in the future. Even though Dronacharya was aware, when he was approached for Dhristadyumna’s military training, he very humbly accepted and imparted all his knowledge impartially to his pupil.
Duryodhana was reminding Dronacharya that even though Dhristadyumna was his pupil, he was also Drupad’s son, with a boon to kill him. He wanted to ensure that as in the past, Dhronacharya should not become lenient towards his pupils, now that, they were on the battlefield.