ततो द्रोणो महेष्वासः सर्वांस् तान् प्रत्यभाषत ॥
अस्ति वो ऽस्यान्तरं कश् चित् कुमारस्य प्रपश्यति ॥
अन्व् अस्य पितरं ह्य् अद्य चरतः सर्वतोदिशम् ॥
शीघ्रतां नरसिंहस्य पाण्डवेयस्य पश्यत ॥
धनुर्मण्डलम् एवास्य रथमार्गेषु दृश्यते ॥
संदधानस्य विशिखाञ् शीघ्रं चैव विमुञ्चतः ॥
tato droṇo maheṣvāsaḥ sarvāṃs tān pratyabhāṣata ||
asti vo 'syāntaraṃ kaś cit kumārasya prapaśyati ||
anv asya pitaraṃ hy adya carataḥ sarvatodiśam ||
śīghratāṃ narasiṃhasya pāṇḍaveyasya paśyata ||
dhanurmaṇḍalam evāsya rathamārgeṣu dṛśyate ||
saṃdadhānasya viśikhāñ śīghraṃ caiva vimuñcataḥ ||
Then Karna Vaikartana Vrisha said to Drona: "Before he destroys us all, tell us quickly how to slay him." Then Drona, the great archer, replied to them all: "Is there anyone among you who sees a weak point in him? Behold the swiftness of this lion among men, this scion of Pandu, who today ranges in every direction like his father. The circle of his bow is seen at once in the wheelings of his chariot — as he nocks his arrows swiftly and looses them swiftly."
3097eec0e984 · published Jul 19, 2026, 3:30:04 PM UTC
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Drona, asked how to kill the youth, answers not with a method but with astonished praise: "behold the swiftness of this lion, like unto his father." Thus within the teacher himself, admiration and duty toward an unjust cause contend: he honors mastery, yet is compelled to point out how to break the one he honors. It is telling that Drona's praise is sincere — he sees Arjuna himself in the youth. The verse teaches that even in the hour when duty toward wrong demands the destruction of the worthy, conscience raises its voice in admiration; that a true connoisseur cannot help but honor perfection, even when he himself has doomed it to destruction; and that in this division within Drona — between rapture and the fateful counsel he is about to give — the tragedy of a man of honor serving injustice is laid bare: his lips praise what his hands will help destroy.