1.10 He counts, and gets it backwards Sanjaya speaks
अपर्याप्तं तदस्माकं बलं भीष्माभिरक्षितम्
पर्याप्तं त्विदमेतेषां बलं भीमाभिरक्षितम्
aparyāptaṁ tadasmākaṁ balaṁ bhīṣhmābhirakṣhitam
paryāptaṁ tvidameteṣhāṁ balaṁ bhīmābhirakṣhitam
Our strength is beyond counting, with Bhishma guarding it; theirs is limited, with Bhima at its head.
Explanation
He counts, and he gets it backwards.
He calls his own force aparyāptam — unlimited — and the enemy's paryāptam, limited. The words can be read the other way, and commentators have argued over it for centuries.
Either way the tell is the same. A man who was certain would not need to total up the numbers out loud.
Going further
Word by word
- aparyāptam
- unlimited
- tat
- that
- asmākam
- ours
- balam
- strength
- bhīṣhma
- by Grandsire Bheeshma
- abhirakṣhitam
- safely marshalled
- paryāptam
- limited
- tu
- but
- idam
- this
- eteṣhām
- their
- balam
- strength
- bhīma
- Bheem
- abhirakṣhitam
- carefully marshalled
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Duryodhana is counting, and he gets it backwards. He says his own force is aparyāptam — unlimited — and the enemy's is paryāptam, limited. He has more troops and he is right about the arithmetic.
He loses anyway. The chapter opens with the side that has the numbers doing the tallying, and it is the last time counting appears as a way of understanding the situation.