नूनं वयं वध्यपक्षे भवतो ब्रह्मवित्तम ॥
तथा हि नाग्रहीः प्राप्तं समीपे ऽद्य युधिष्ठिरम् ॥
इच्छतस् ते न मुच्येत चक्षुःप्राप्तो रणे रिपुः ॥
जिघृक्षतो रक्ष्यमाणः सामरैर् अपि पाण्डवैः ॥
वरं दत्त्वा मम प्रीतः पश्चाद् विकृतवान् असि ॥
आशाभङ्गं न कुर्वन्ति भक्तस्यार्याः कथं चन ॥
nūnaṃ vayaṃ vadhyapakṣe bhavato brahmavittama ||
tathā hi nāgrahīḥ prāptaṃ samīpe 'dya yudhiṣṭhiram ||
icchatas te na mucyeta cakṣuḥprāpto raṇe ripuḥ ||
jighṛkṣato rakṣyamāṇaḥ sāmarair api pāṇḍavaiḥ ||
varaṃ dattvā mama prītaḥ paścād vikṛtavān asi ||
āśābhaṅgaṃ na kurvanti bhaktasyāryāḥ kathaṃ cana ||
"Surely, in your view, we are among those who must be killed, O best knower of Brahman: for behold — today, when Yudhishthira had come near, you did not seize him. Had you wished to seize him, the enemy who came within sight in the fight would not have escaped, [though] guarded by the Pandavas even with the gods themselves. Having granted me a boon, favorably disposed, you later drew back; but the noble by no means inflict a crushing of hope upon a devoted follower."
4f4ebcb08fd7 · published Jul 19, 2026, 3:22:09 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Duryodhana reproaches Drona with bitter suspicion: "we are among those you would have killed" — attributing to his teacher secret betrayal. Thus the nature of the distrustful is shown: he reads an ally's failure not as weakness but as treachery. It is telling that his reproach is wrapped in an appeal to honor — "the noble do not disappoint the hopes of a devotee" — yet what drives him is suspicion, not trust. The verse teaches that distrust sees malicious intent in everything, turning a friend's misfortune into supposed betrayal; that to accuse of disloyalty one who fights for you with his last strength is both injustice and ingratitude; and that a leader who suspects his own of treason instead of strengthening them with trust himself undermines the very unity on which his cause depends.