जातरूपपरिष्कारम् आस्थाय रथम् उत्तमम् ॥
भारद्वाजः किम् अकरोच् छूरः संक्रन्दनो युधि ॥
विद्यां यस्योपजीवन्ति सर्वलोकधनुर्भृतः ॥
स सत्यसंधो बलवान् द्रोणः किम् अकरोद् युधि ॥
दिवि शक्रम् इव श्रेष्ठं महामात्रं धनुर्भृताम् ॥
के नु तं रौद्रकर्माणं युद्धे प्रत्युद्ययू रथाः ॥
jātarūpapariṣkāram āsthāya ratham uttamam ||
bhāradvājaḥ kim akaroc chūraḥ saṃkrandano yudhi ||
vidyāṃ yasyopajīvanti sarvalokadhanurbhṛtaḥ ||
sa satyasaṃdho balavān droṇaḥ kim akarod yudhi ||
divi śakram iva śreṣṭhaṃ mahāmātraṃ dhanurbhṛtām ||
ke nu taṃ raudrakarmāṇaṃ yuddhe pratyudyayū rathāḥ ||
Having mounted his excellent chariot trimmed with gold, what was the hero Bharadvaja [Drona], roaring in battle, doing? He whose teaching all the archers of the world live by, true to his vow, mighty Drona — what was he doing in the fight? Like Indra in the heavens — foremost, supreme among archers — what chariot-warriors, then, advanced to meet him, so fierce in action, in battle?
6ce250b69262 · published Jul 19, 2026, 2:46:26 PM UTC
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The king again exalts Drona — "like Indra in the heavens," "all the archers of the world live by his teaching": grief inflates the image of the departed to the utmost, for love knows no measure in praise. It is telling that here too what matters most in Drona is not strength but "the teaching by which all live": his greatness is first of all as a giver of knowledge. The question "who then dared to advance against him?" arises not from ignorance — Sanjaya has already named Dhrishtadyumna — but from the bewilderment of a heart unable to accept that anyone was found who dared. The verse teaches that grief magnifies what is lost; that the greatest glory of a man of knowledge is that many live by him; and that a mourner's questions are often not about facts but about the impossibility of accepting what has happened.