न ह्य् अस्य समरे मुच्येद् अन्तको ऽप्य् आततायिनः ॥
किम् अङ्ग पुनर् एवान्यो मर्त्यः सत्यं ब्रवीमि वः ॥
अर्जुनस्य सुतं त्व् एष शिष्यत्वाद् अभिरक्षति ॥
पुत्राः शिष्याश् च दयितास् तद् अपत्यं च धर्मिणाम् ॥
संरक्ष्यमाणो द्रोणेन मन्यते वीर्यम् आत्मनः ॥
आत्मसंभावितो मूढस् तं प्रमथ्नीत माचिरम् ॥
na hy asya samare mucyed antako 'py ātatāyinaḥ ||
kim aṅga punar evānyo martyaḥ satyaṃ bravīmi vaḥ ||
arjunasya sutaṃ tv eṣa śiṣyatvād abhirakṣati ||
putrāḥ śiṣyāś ca dayitās tad apatyaṃ ca dharmiṇām ||
saṃrakṣyamāṇo droṇena manyate vīryam ātmanaḥ ||
ātmasaṃbhāvito mūḍhas taṃ pramathnīta māciram ||
"Indeed, from him, poised to strike, not even Death itself would escape in battle — what need to speak of any other mortal; I tell you the truth. But the son of Arjuna he [Drona] protects as [the son of] a disciple: sons and disciples are dear, and so is the child of the righteous. Being protected by Drona, this mere child imagines his own valor to be great, conceited about himself. Crush him without delay!"
95c49f38008c · published Jul 19, 2026, 3:22:09 PM UTC
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Duryodhana slanders his teacher: as if the youth's valor came only from Drona's protection, while he himself is a 'conceited child.' Thus envy attributes another's success to anything at all, rather than acknowledge genuine worth. It is bitter that he interprets the teacher's fatherly love for his disciple's son as betrayal of the common cause. It is telling that, wishing to belittle the youth, Duryodhana himself admits: 'not even Death would escape him.' The verse teaches that envy, not daring to deny obvious valor, strains to attribute it to another's help or to chance; that slandering a noble helper is the usual weapon of the suspicious; and that Duryodhana, letting slip the youth's greatness even in his slander, exposes himself — for the truth of Abhimanyu's valor breaks through even his envious lie.