युगस्येव विपर्यासो लोकानाम् इव मोहनम् ॥
भीष्मस्य च वधस् तात द्रोणस्य च महात्मनः ॥
न ह्य् एव ब्रह्मचर्येण न वेदाध्ययनेन च ॥
न क्रियाभिर् न शस्त्रेण मृत्योः कश् चिद् विमुच्यते ॥
लोकसंभावितौ वीरौ कृतास्त्रौ युद्धदुर्मदौ ॥
भीष्मद्रोणौ हतौ श्रुत्वा किं नु जीवामि संजय ॥
yugasyeva viparyāso lokānām iva mohanam ||
bhīṣmasya ca vadhas tāta droṇasya ca mahātmanaḥ ||
na hy eva brahmacaryeṇa na vedādhyayanena ca ||
na kriyābhir na śastreṇa mṛtyoḥ kaś cid vimucyate ||
lokasaṃbhāvitau vīrau kṛtāstrau yuddhadurmadau ||
bhīṣmadroṇau hatau śrutvā kiṃ nu jīvāmi saṃjaya ||
Like the overturning of an age, like the bewilderment of all the worlds — the death of Bhishma and the great-souled Drona, O dear one. For indeed, not by continence, not by study of the Veda, not by rites, not by weapon does anyone escape death. Having heard that Bhishma and Drona — two heroes honored by the world, skilled in arms, ferocious in battle — are slain, why then do I live, O Sanjaya?
da2e8fca7716 · published Jul 19, 2026, 2:46:26 PM UTC
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Dhritarashtra likens the fall of the two greatest to 'the overturning of an age': with the fall of the pillars, the very order of the familiar world collapses. And from this arises an ancient truth: 'death is escaped neither by chastity, nor the Veda, nor rites, nor weapons.' No merit and no power annuls the mortality of the body — only surrender to the Lord, to whom the king has just now appealed, carries one beyond its limit. The verse teaches that before death all merits are equal, for the body is inevitably mortal; that neither austerity, nor knowledge, nor strength in itself grants immortality; and that the only refuge from death is not deeds but the One whose deeds Dhritarashtra has just praised: it is in Him, not in merit, that death is overcome.