धृतराष्ट्र उवाच
कथं द्रोणो महेष्वासः पाञ्चाल्यश् चापि पार्षतः ॥
रणे समीयतुर् यत्तौ तन् ममाचक्ष्व संजय ॥
दिष्टम् एव परं मन्ये पौरुषाद् अपि संजय ॥
यत्र शांतनवो भीष्मो नातरद् युधि पाण्डवम् ॥
भीष्मो हि समरे क्रुद्धो हन्याल् लोकांश् चराचरान् ॥
स कथं पाण्डवं युद्धे नातरत् संजयौजसा ॥
dhṛtarāṣṭra uvāca
kathaṃ droṇo maheṣvāsaḥ pāñcālyaś cāpi pārṣataḥ ||
raṇe samīyatur yattau tan mamācakṣva saṃjaya ||
diṣṭam eva paraṃ manye pauruṣād api saṃjaya ||
yatra śāṃtanavo bhīṣmo nātarad yudhi pāṇḍavam ||
bhīṣmo hi samare kruddho hanyāl lokāṃś carācarān ||
sa kathaṃ pāṇḍavaṃ yuddhe nātarat saṃjayaujasā ||
Dhritarashtra said: "How did the great archer Drona and the Panchalya Parshata, both eager for battle, meet in combat? Tell me of this, Sanjaya. I deem fate mightier even than human effort, since Bhishma, son of Shantanu, did not overcome the Pandava in battle. For Bhishma, enraged in combat, could destroy all the worlds, moving and unmoving. How then, Sanjaya, did he not overcome the Pandava by his own might?"
797ed98f7146 · published Jul 17, 2026, 9:12:34 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Dhritarashtra is forced to admit the limit of a power he had thought nearly absolute. His talk of fate is not wise resignation but the bewilderment of a man seeing that the side he loves does not fully command the outcome.