Bhagavad Gita 1.11
अयनेषु च सर्वेषु यथाभागमवस्थिताः । भीष्ममेवाभिरक्षन्तु भवन्तः सर्व एव हि ॥
ayaneṣu ca sarveṣu yathā-bhāgam avasthitāḥ | bhīṣmam evābhirakṣantu bhavantaḥ sarva eva hi ||
Translation
And all of you, stationed in your respective divisions at the various entry-points, protect Bhishma above all.
Reflection
Who are you secretly counting on to still be there when life gets hard?
Read this verse in its chapter: Chapter One
The last instruction Duryodhana gives before falling silent: protect Bhishma. Not the kingdom. Not the cause. The old man. He is the anchor on which Duryodhana's reading of his own strength depends; if Bhishma falls, the count collapses. Every leader has a person whose presence makes the impossible feel survivable. The order Duryodhana gives is the one a frightened man gives when he cannot say what he is frightened of.