कश् चिद् आह्वयतां संख्ये देशम् अन्यं प्रकर्षतु ॥
तम् अजित्वा तु कौन्तेयो न निवर्तेत् कथं चन ॥
एतस्मिन्न् अन्तरे शून्ये धर्मराजम् अहं नृप ॥
ग्रहीष्यामि चमूं भित्त्वा धृष्टद्युम्नस्य पश्यतः ॥
अर्जुनेन विहीनस् तु यदि नोत्सृजते रणम् ॥
माम् उपायान्तम् आलोक्य गृहीतम् इति विद्धि तम् ॥
kaś cid āhvayatāṃ saṃkhye deśam anyaṃ prakarṣatu ||
tam ajitvā tu kaunteyo na nivartet kathaṃ cana ||
etasminn antare śūnye dharmarājam ahaṃ nṛpa ||
grahīṣyāmi camūṃ bhittvā dhṛṣṭadyumnasya paśyataḥ ||
arjunena vihīnas tu yadi notsṛjate raṇam ||
mām upāyāntam ālokya gṛhītam iti viddhi tam ||
[Drona:] Let someone challenge Arjuna to battle and lure him away to another place; and the son of Kunti [Arjuna], until he overcomes that opponent, will not withdraw for anything. In that gained window, when the field empties, I, O king, will take the king of dharma [Yudhishthira] captive, breaking through his ranks right before the eyes of Dhrishtadyumna. And if he, deprived of Arjuna, does not abandon the battle — once he beholds me advancing, consider him already taken.
43c298bac3d7 · published Jul 19, 2026, 3:00:04 PM UTC
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The plan rests on Arjuna's own virtue: "until he overcomes, he will not withdraw" — evil turns his unwavering fidelity to a challenge into a trap, counting on drawing him away. Thus the enemy catches the righteous man on his own merit, making honor a weapon against honor. It is telling that Drona is confident only "in the window, when the field empties": his power works only in the guardian's absence. The verse teaches that virtue not illumined by discernment can be turned by the enemy into a snare; that evil counts precisely on the righteous man's faithfulness to his own rules; and that the strength of untruth triumphs only where the defender of truth has been removed — and so above all one must guard the unbroken presence of one's stronghold.