ततः पुनर् अपि द्रोणो नाम विश्रावयन् युधि ॥
अकरोद् रौद्रम् आत्मानं किरञ् शरशतैः परान् ॥
स तथा तान्य् अनीकानि पाण्डवेयस्य धीमतः ॥
कालवन् न्यवधीद् द्रोणो युवेव स्थविरो बली ॥
उत्कृत्य च शिरांस्य् उग्रो बाहून् अपि सभूषणान् ॥
कृत्वा शून्यान् रथोपस्थान् उदक्रोशन् महारथः ॥
tataḥ punar api droṇo nāma viśrāvayan yudhi ||
akarod raudram ātmānaṃ kirañ śaraśataiḥ parān ||
sa tathā tāny anīkāni pāṇḍaveyasya dhīmataḥ ||
kālavan nyavadhīd droṇo yuveva sthaviro balī ||
utkṛtya ca śirāṃsy ugro bāhūn api sabhūṣaṇān ||
kṛtvā śūnyān rathopasthān udakrośan mahārathaḥ ||
Then again Drona, proclaiming his own name in battle, made himself terrible, scattering the enemies with hundreds of arrows. Thus Drona destroyed the armies of the wise Pandava [Yudhishthira], like the god Time himself — aged, yet as though a mighty youth. Severing heads and arms, still adorned with ornaments, turning the chariot-seats empty, the fierce, great chariot-warrior shouted his war cry.
0d956bba7b4c · published Jul 19, 2026, 2:46:26 PM UTC
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Drona "proclaims his own name" — announces himself before the enemy: this is the custom of the kshatriya, yet also a shadow of pride, for a name is proclaimed to demand fear. He destroys, "like the god Time himself" — and the comparison is true in a double sense: he not only strikes like Time, but he himself, like all things, is subject to Time, which in its hour will strike him down as well. The severed arms "still in their ornaments" are a bitter image: adornments prepared for celebration remain on lifeless limbs. The verse teaches that he who strikes like Time is not himself beyond Time; that glory won by slaughter is as illusory as the gleam on a severed arm; and that the war cry of greatness unsupported by righteousness is but the loud voice of the silence to come.