ननु रुक्मरथं दृष्ट्वा प्रद्रवन्ति स्म पाण्डवाः ॥
दिव्यम् अस्त्रं विकुर्वाणं सेनां क्षिण्वन्तम् अव्ययम् ॥
उताहो सर्वसैन्येन धर्मराजः सहानुजः ॥
पाञ्चाल्यप्रग्रहो द्रोणं सर्वतः समवारयत् ॥
नूनम् आवारयत् पार्थो रथिनो ऽन्यान् अजिह्मगैः ॥
ततो द्रोणं समारोहत् पार्षतः पापकर्मकृत् ॥
nanu rukmarathaṃ dṛṣṭvā pradravanti sma pāṇḍavāḥ ||
divyam astraṃ vikurvāṇaṃ senāṃ kṣiṇvantam avyayam ||
utāho sarvasainyena dharmarājaḥ sahānujaḥ ||
pāñcālyapragraho droṇaṃ sarvataḥ samavārayat ||
nūnam āvārayat pārtho rathino 'nyān ajihmagaiḥ ||
tato droṇaṃ samārohat pārṣataḥ pāpakarmakṛt ||
Surely the Pandavas do not flee at the sight of the golden-charioted one [Drona], wielding his divine weapon and destroying the inexhaustible host? Or perhaps Dharmaraja [Yudhishthira], together with his brothers and the whole army, with the Panchala prince [Dhrishtadyumna] at the head, surrounded Drona on every side? Surely Partha [Arjuna] drove off the other chariot warriors with straight-flying arrows, and then Parshata [Dhrishtadyumna], the doer of a sinful deed, fell upon Drona.
7d7bb0b85248 · published Jul 19, 2026, 2:46:26 PM UTC
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The king himself guesses how it all happened: Arjuna drove off the defenders, and Dhrishtadyumna struck the blow. It is telling that he calls Dhrishtadyumna the "doer of a sinful deed" (pāpakarmakṛt) — blaming the slayer in his grief; yet in this same chapter he has admitted that it was "by fate" and that the sin was his own as well. So grief wavers between blaming the enemy and a flash of self-accusation. The verse teaches that one who grieves is inclined to blame first the hand that struck the blow, rather than the cause that prepared it; that calling an enemy a "sinner" is easier than admitting one's own guilt; and that the recognition of truth breaks through grief only in fits and starts, until the heart is ready to accept it fully.