Gita 01.16 Yudhishthira doesn’t come first in the list of warriors but is still their undisputed leader

Thank you Bhagavad Gita 1.16 Ananta Vijayam Raja Kuntiputra Yudhishtira Nakula Ghosha Manipushpaka so here the description of the response from the Pandava side continues it continues for three verses here and the first verse states first verse was 14 15 and now 16 so first it described Krishna and Arjuna on a chariot then it described Krishna, Arjuna and Bhima blowing their conches and now it describes Yudhishtira, Nakula and Sahadeva blowing their conches Ananta Vijayam Raja Kuntiputra Yudhishtira so Raja Yudhishtira was meant to be the king and he was going to be the king Raja can also refer to Dhritarashtra whom Sanjay is referring to Ananta Vijayam his conch which was known as Ananta Vijayam and Sughosha Pushpaka Manipushpaka so that is how the name is after Nakula Sahadeva there is a conches of Nakula and Sahadeva it is interesting that this is the first reference to Yudhishtira in the Bhagavad Gita just as Duryodhana misses out Krishna he also misses out Yudhishtira Duryodhana does not understand the power of virtue at all all that he understands is the power of power of strength and the power of cunning so in his assessment of the opposite army he leaves out the king of the opposite army which is very striking he does not consider the king to be such a formidable warrior as to deserve specific mention and yes we could say that Bhima and Arjuna were more powerful warriors than him and if you look at the whole Kurukshetra war Yudhishthira also fights there are not any major noteworthy victories that Yudhishthira achieves except on the last day when he fells Shalya who is the last commander of the Kauravas he fells him and the war officially ends on the battlefield of course Duryodhana has fled and Duryodhana has to be felled which Bhima does and then Avshatthama attacks the Pandava camp at night and then he has to be brought down the hostilities go on but Yudhishthira does have his redeem on the last day when he fells the commander of the opposite army and before that Yudhishthira has some difficult days at one time Drona is fully focused on trying to arrest him and 11th and 12th days he barely escapes and on the 16th day the first day when Karna is the commander at that time Karna knocks him down and Karna could have killed him but Karna lets him go so there are times when Yudhishthira is defeated and almost humiliated by his opponents so it's interesting that Yudhishthira's lack of being a very prominent hero in the Kaurava in the Pandava army that does not decrease the Pandava's rabad for him Arjuna or Bhima don't think that Yudhishthira is not as strong as we are so we should why should he become the king a king's qualification is not just military prowess yes naturally if a war is being fought, military prowess matters without military prowess nothing can happen but military prowess is not all that matters other things such as one's skill one's virtue one's knowledge of dharma one's capability to administer fairly and justly that is also important so the king has to we could say wear many hats and play many roles when necessary has to defend and thus the king needs to be good at weapons or at least good at strategies about how to fight or the king needs to be shrewd enough to appoint people who are shrewd enough in these areas in fighting or strategizing about fighting if you see in today's world the administrative legislative and martial aspects have been entirely segregated sorry we often say there is a division of power between the judiciary between the legislature and then the administration and of course we could have the military so if we consider the king has to administer justice the king has to make sure that laws are passed the king has to make sure that the country is administered well and that the country is defended well from external aggressors so Yudhishthir he was especially known for his knowledge of Dharma he was Dharmaraj and he might not have been as formidable a warrior as his younger brothers Bhima and Arjuna but that was no disqualification instead of thinking that a king has to have only one set of qualifications and if that set is not there the king is not worthwhile so we have to see that there can be different abilities which are needed and which are provided accordingly nobody has all qualities and whatever qualities we have we need to use them in a mood of service and we have to find the service that enables us to use those qualities in the best way so this is reciprocal reciprocal means at one level we understand the virtues or the qualities, the abilities, the skills that are required and if a person fits the bill even partially in a major way and reasonably in other ways then that person can be considered for that position.

Yudhishthira of course was unquestioned leader of the Pandavas not just because he was the oldest among them but also because he was the wisest and of course we may say that if he was so wise how could he have gambled excessively that was a circumstantial lapse of judgment a person is not to be defined by one bad action in their lives if they have led overall a life of virtue on one occasion they have done something wrong now that one wrong might be grievous and that would no doubt taint their name but we all have urges within us and sometimes circumstances externally and our own disposition internally may trigger those urges to a shocking degree so still the urge is defined by its surge, we aren't that means we need to recognize that this is a dangerous urge within me and others may also need to recognize this is particularly a problem for this person some people may be alcoholics now that doesn't mean that they have to be seen only as alcoholics that is one food that they are and they have to abstain they may have to keep a much further distance from drinks and exhibit special caution while interacting in situations where drinks are available but beyond that they have their life they have their personality they have their qualities and these need to be appreciated so Yudhishthir if you look at his overall life he was exemplarily Dharmic and we don't have to define people by their lapses no matter how grievous they might be they have to see their whole character and based on that we appreciate their certain virtues which they lack Yudhishthir may not have been the foremost warrior and he may have had certain a moment of poor judgement but his position remains great in spite of these Thank you.