Chapter I · Śloka 11
Duryodhana uvāca
अयनेषु च सर्वेषु यथाभागमवस्थिताः |
भीष्ममेवाभिरक्षन्तु भवन्तः सर्व एव हि ||
भीष्ममेवाभिरक्षन्तु भवन्तः सर्व एव हि ||
ayaneṣu ca sarveṣu yathā-bhāgam avasthitāḥ |
bhīṣmam evābhirakṣantu bhavantaḥ sarva eva hi ||
bhīṣmam evābhirakṣantu bhavantaḥ sarva eva hi ||
Therefore all of you, stationed at your respective positions in the array, must protect Bhishma above all else.
After enumerating his own heroes, Duryodhana's instruction to all of them is: guard Bhishma. It is an unintentional confession — even surrounded by the greatest warriors in the world, he knows the army's entire foundation rests on one old man.