धृतराष्ट्र उवाच
भारद्वाजेन भग्नेषु पाण्डवेषु महामृधे ॥
पाञ्चालेषु च सर्वेषु कश् चिद् अन्यो ऽभ्यवर्तत ॥
आर्यां युद्धे मतिं कृत्वा क्षत्रियाणां यशस्करीम् ॥
असेवितां कापुरुषैः सेवितां पुरुषर्षभैः ॥
स हि वीरो नरः सूत यो भग्नेषु निवर्तते ॥
अहो नासीत् पुमान् कश् चिद् दृष्ट्वा द्रोणं व्यवस्थितम् ॥
dhṛtarāṣṭra uvāca
bhāradvājena bhagneṣu pāṇḍaveṣu mahāmṛdhe ||
pāñcāleṣu ca sarveṣu kaś cid anyo 'bhyavartata ||
āryāṃ yuddhe matiṃ kṛtvā kṣatriyāṇāṃ yaśaskarīm ||
asevitāṃ kāpuruṣaiḥ sevitāṃ puruṣarṣabhaiḥ ||
sa hi vīro naraḥ sūta yo bhagneṣu nivartate ||
aho nāsīt pumān kaś cid dṛṣṭvā droṇaṃ vyavasthitam ||
"When the Pandavas were broken by the hand of Drona in the great combat, and all the Panchalas too — did anyone else turn back, having taken up in battle that noble resolve, glorious in honor among the kshatriyas, alien to the faint-hearted, chosen instead by bulls among men? For that one is the hero, O bard, that man who, when others are broken, turns back to face the foe."
503006bdc814 · published Jul 19, 2026, 3:11:21 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Dhritarashtra, for all his partiality to his own, utters a pure truth about valor: the hero is not the one who wins in a general onslaught, but the one who turns back to face the foe when all others flee. It is significant that the blind king — himself incapable of battle — knows precisely the measure of courage and honors it even in enemies. Here it shows itself that moral truth is intelligible even to one who does not follow it. The verse teaches that true courage is revealed not in the hour of fortune but in the hour of rout, when one can stand firm only against the current; that glory alien to the faint-hearted falls to those who go to meet misfortune rather than flee from it; and that the ability to recognize and praise valor belongs even to one whose heart is bound to wrong — for conscience knows the good even when the will betrays it.