Chapter 1, Verse 7
asmākam tu visiṣṭā ye
tān-nibodha dvijottama
nāyakāḥ mama sainyasya samjñārtham tān bravīmi te
On our side also, know those who are the most distinguished. O best of the twice-born, the leaders of my army; these I name to you for your special notice.
Here you see the cunning mind of Duryodhan saying, "I want to control the mind of Dronacharya." But because Dronacharya was free from these things, he didn't bother about them too much. He knew how powerful the Pandavas' army was. He knew why Duryodhan was using all this flattery to get his attention. Duryodhan said, "Listen, I have told you about this great army of the Pandavas, but in ours also, there are many good, strong people, equal in all the qualities. We have many great heroes and fighters."
He used the words viśiṣṭā ye pointing out that, "In our army we have supreme heroes, steady, strong, intelligent people. We have courageous, energetic and knowledgeable people who have all the knowledge of fighting and the army."
Tan-nibodha dvijottama: nibodha means, "the people I am going to mention to you now are very excellent and prominent fighters. In their army, they are considered to be very great ones, very strong ones and they have great merit."
He spoke of all the best of the twice-born. You have to understand that the twice-born, the Brahmins, were considered to be very important. He addressed Dronacharya as being best among men, really saying, "Oh you, who are a brahmin, you are better than the others." What did he mean by "best of the twice-born"? When you are first-born, you are human; second-born means that also have the divine knowledge inside of you. You are aware of God you Consciousness. But coming from pride, his words didn't have any power. Coming from pride, his words didn't mean anything. Pride was flattering greed. Each one was playing on the other saying, "I am better than you." There was the one who was proud and the one who was greedy. Which one would say, "Yes, you are better." Neither of them! Duryodhan was still trying to use flattery to enrage Dronacharya. But each one was only saying, "I am better than you. I know about all this." It didn't help much.
Bhagavad Gita