कच्चिद् गाण्डीवशब्देन न प्रणश्यत वै बलम् ॥
यद् वः स भैरवं कुर्वन्न् अर्जुनो भृशम् अभ्यगात् ॥
कच्चिन् नापानुदद् द्रोणाद् इषुभिर् वो धनंजयः ॥
वातो मेघान् इवाविध्यन् प्रवाञ् शरवनानिलः ॥
को हि गाण्डीवधन्वानं नरः सोढुं रणे ऽर्हति ॥
यत् सेनाः समकम्पन्त यद् वीरान् अस्पृशद् भयम् ॥
के तत्र नाजहुर् द्रोणं के क्षुद्राः प्राद्रवन् भयात् ॥
kaccid gāṇḍīvaśabdena na praṇaśyata vai balam ||
yad vaḥ sa bhairavaṃ kurvann arjuno bhṛśam abhyagāt ||
kaccin nāpānudad droṇād iṣubhir vo dhanaṃjayaḥ ||
vāto meghān ivāvidhyan pravāñ śaravanānilaḥ ||
ko hi gāṇḍīvadhanvānaṃ naraḥ soḍhuṃ raṇe 'rhati ||
yat senāḥ samakampanta yad vīrān aspṛśad bhayam ||
ke tatra nājahur droṇaṃ ke kṣudrāḥ prādravan bhayāt ||
Did your army not perish at the roar of Gandiva, when Arjuna, uttering a terrifying [cry], swiftly advanced upon you? Did Dhananjaya [Arjuna] not drive you off with arrows, away from Drona, scattering you as a gale scatters clouds — he, the rushing wind, [driving] a forest of arrows? When the hosts shook, when dread seized the heroes — who did not abandon Drona there, and who, cowardly, fled in fear?
f2983b586458 · published Jul 19, 2026, 2:46:26 PM UTC
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The question 'who did not abandon Drona, and who fled?' draws a line between the faithful and the fainthearted: the trial of fear divides the army into the steadfast and the fleeing. It is telling that Dhritarashtra himself calls those who fled 'contemptible' (kṣudra): even he, father of the unjust cause, honors loyalty and despises cowardice. The image of Arjuna as a gale scattering the hosts like clouds shows that before the storm of justice the army of wrong is scattered. The verse teaches that the hour of terror lays bare who is faithful and who is worthless; that even the unrighteous prize steadfastness, for valor is honored by all; and that an army gathered for a wrongful cause disperses in the hour of storm, because it is bound not by truth but by fear and greed.