Rathātiratha Saṃkhyāna

The Rathātiratha Saṃkhyāna Parva is the part of the Mahābhārata’s Udyoga Parva that covers Chapters 165–172. At Duryodhana’s request, Bhīshma gives a full assessment of every notable warrior on both sides of the coming Kurukshetra War. He grades each by the Rathātiratha system. The account covers both the Kaurava and the Pāṇḍava warriors. It includes a famous quarrel between Bhīshma and Karṇa, and it ends with Bhīshma’s solemn declaration that he will never fight Śikhaṇḍī. That declaration leads straight into the Ambopākhyāna.

Why Bhīshma gives the list

Duryodhana asks Bhīshma to judge how strong the warriors of both sides are. It is a strategic briefing before the war begins. Bhīshma does it with the formal grading of warriors: ratha, atiratha, ardharatha and mahāratha. The list is also an honest reckoning. Duryodhana has to hear a plain account of the strong enemies he has chosen to fight.

Kaurava warriors

Rathas (chariot-warriors): Duryodhana and all one hundred Dhārtarāshṭras; Kṛtavarman; Śalya; Bhūriśravas; Jayadratha; Alambusha; Acala and Vṛshaka (Śakuni’s brothers); Śakuni; Daṇḍadhāra; Bṛhadbala of Kośala; Vṛshasena (Karṇa’s son); Jalasandha; Paurava; Vinda and Anuvinda of Avantī; the five Trigarta brothers (Satyaratha and others); Lakshmaṇa (Duryodhana’s son); the son of Duśśāsana.

Special cases: Droṇa and Aśvatthāman are both rated as atirathas or higher, for their mastery of divine weapons and the breadth of their skill in combat. Bhagadatta of Prāgjyotisha is a formidable mahāratha. Bāhlīka is rated as a ratha of great experience.

Pāṇḍava warriors

Rathas: Yudhishṭhira; Nakula; Sahadeva; Draupadī’s five sons; Sātyaki; Uttamaujas; Yuddhāmanyu; Virāṭa; Drupada; Dhṛshṭaketu; Kshatradeva; Jayanta; Amitaujas; Satyajit (the Pāñchāla warriors); Aja-Bhoja; the five Kekaya brothers; Kāśika, Nīla, Sūryadatta, Śaṅkhu, Madrāśva; Vārdhakshemi; Citrāyudha; Cekitāna; Satyadhṛti; Vyāghradatta; Candrasena; Senābindu; Krodhahasta; Kāśirāja; Satyajit (Drupada’s son); the Pāṇḍya king; Śreṇimān; Vasudāna; Rocamāna; Śikhaṇḍī.

Ardharatha: Kshatradharman.

Atirathas: Dhṛshṭadyumna; Purujitta; Kuntibhoja.

Special cases: Bhīma is rated as equal to eight rathas in fighting power. Abhimanyu is placed among the finest warriors. Ghaṭotkaca is a mahāratha. Bhīshma does not grade Arjuna in the usual terms, but he says Arjuna is beyond ordinary grading. Kṛshṇa is beyond all grading.

The quarrel between Bhīshma and Karṇa

The Rathātiratha Saṃkhyāna holds the well-known clash between Bhīshma and Karṇa over Karṇa’s grade. Bhīshma grades Karṇa with reservations. He acknowledges Karṇa’s power but points to his failures and half-measures. Karṇa feels deeply hurt, takes it as contempt from Bhīshma, and answers in anger. The argument ends without agreement and adds to the tension on the Kaurava side even before the war begins.

Bhīshma’s declaration about Śikhaṇḍī

At the end of the list Bhīshma makes a formal declaration: he will not fight Śikhaṇḍī. Duryodhana at once asks why, and Bhīshma’s answer is the whole Ambopākhyāna Parva that follows.

Bhīshma has vowed never to raise a weapon against a woman, against one who was once a woman, or against one who bears a woman’s name. Śikhaṇḍī comes under this vow. He was born as Ambā, was reborn as a girl child of Drupada, and was later changed into a man by the yaksha Sthūṇakarṇa.

Sources

• Mahābhārata, Udyoga Parva, Chapters 165–172 (Rathātiratha Saṃkhyāna Parva)
• Mahābhārata, Udyoga Parva, Ambopākhyāna Parva (the account that follows Bhīshma’s declaration)