Sanskrit
द्रोणं च भीष्मं च जयद्रथं च कर्णं तथाऽन्यानपि योधवीरान् । मया हतांस्त्वं जहि मा व्यथिष्ठाः युद्ध्यस्व जेतासि रणे सपत्नान् ॥
droṇaṃ ca bhīṣmaṃ ca jayadrathaṃ ca karṇaṃ tathā'nyān api yodhavīrān mayā hatāṃs tvaṃ jahi mā vyathiṣṭhāḥ yuddhyasva jetāsi raṇe sapatnān
Translation
Drona and Bhîshma and Jayadratha, Karna, and all the other warriors here, Are slain by Me. Destroy them fearlessly. Fight! thou shalt crush thy rivals in the field.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
Krishna closes his speech the way verse 26 opened Arjuna’s — by naming names. What was, in verse 26, a horrified catalogue of men about to be devoured is now, in Krishna’s mouth, a flat battle order: kill Drona, Bhîshma, Jayadratha, Karṇa. There’s no cushioning here, none of the affectionate epithets Krishna uses elsewhere for Arjuna — just an imperative, “jahi,” strike, repeated with “yuddhyasva,” fight. It’s the bluntest command in the entire dialogue so far, and it’s also the last thing Krishna says before the narrative frame reasserts itself and Sanjaya takes the account back over in the next verse. Krishna closes his speech the way Arjuna opened his (BG 11.26) — by naming names. What was a horrified catalogue is now a flat battle order: jahi, strike. No affectionate epithets, no cushioning — the bluntest command in the dialogue, and the last thing Krishna says before Sanjaya takes the account back.
Study deeper
Word by word
- droṇaṃ ca bhīṣmaṃ ca jayadrathaṃ caद्रोणं च भीष्मं च जयद्रथं च
- Droṇa, Bhīṣma, Jayadratha (droṇam + ca + bhīṣmam + ca + jayadratham + ca)
- karṇaṃ tathā'nyān api yodhavīrānकर्णं तथाऽन्यान् अपि योधवीरान्
- Karṇa, and other warrior-heroes as well (karṇam + tathā + anyān + api + yodha-vīrān)
- mayā hatāṃs tvaṃ jahi mā vyathiṣṭhāḥमया हतांस् त्वं जहि मा व्यथिष्ठाः
- slay [them], already slain by Me; do not waver (mayā + hatān + tvam + jahi + mā + vyathiṣṭhāḥ)
- yuddhyasva jetāsi raṇe sapatnānयुद्ध्यस्व जेतासि रणे सपत्नान्
- fight; you shall conquer your rivals in battle (yuddhyasva + jetāsi + raṇe + sapatnān)
Commentary
Site Commentary
The names are the same as verse 26’s roll call — Droṇa, Bhīṣma, Jayadratha, Karṇa — but the register has completely flipped. Arjuna listed them in dread, watching relatives about to die; Krishna lists them as already dead, a formality trailing an outcome that isn’t in question. The identical catalogue means something different depending on whether the speaker still thinks the future is open.
Original commentary written for this site · © Amit Singh — original commentary
Concepts
Apply this verse
Lessons
Personal
- The same list of hard facts about your situation can read as dread or as clarity depending on whether you still think the outcome is undecided — if a decision is genuinely already made, naming its consequences plainly is often calmer than continuing to treat them as open.
Professional
- Once a layoff, a reorg, or a hard call is genuinely final, naming the specific people or teams affected plainly to the group, rather than staying vague to soften it, usually reduces anxiety more than a euphemistic list does, because vagueness reads as an outcome still in play.
Family & Social
- When a hard family decision is truly settled, naming the specific changes plainly instead of hedging actually helps people adjust faster than watching you dance around a conclusion you've already reached.
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