Bhagavad Gita 1.7
अस्माकं तु विशिष्टा ये तान्निबोध द्विजोत्तम । नायका मम सैन्यस्य संज्ञार्थं तान्ब्रवीमि ते ॥
asmākaṃ tu viśiṣṭā ye tān nibodha dvijottama | nāyakā mama sainyasya saṃjñārthaṃ tān bravīmi te ||
Translation
But know, O best of the twice-born, who are most distinguished on our side, the leaders of my army; them I name to you for your information.
Reflection
When did you count your strengths against theirs just to feel better?
Read this verse in its chapter: Chapter One
Duryodhana switches sides of the ledger. Now our names. The phrasing is careful: for your information, as if the teacher who has known these men since boyhood needs the roll-call. He does not. The list will be shorter than the one before it, and the shortness is what Duryodhana cannot say aloud. A speech that begins with the enemy and turns to one's own is a speech making an argument the speaker hasn't convinced himself of yet.