तद् अद्भुतम् अपश्याम द्रोणस्याचार्यकं युधि ॥
यतमानो युवा नैनं प्रत्यविध्यद् यद् अर्जुनः ॥
क्षरन्न् इव महामेघो वारिधाराः सहस्रशः ॥
द्रोणमेघः पार्थशैलं ववर्ष शरवृष्टिभिः ॥
अर्जुनः शरवर्षं तद् ब्रह्मास्त्रेणैव मारिष ॥
प्रतिजग्राह तेजस्वी बाणैर् बाणान् विशातयन् ॥
tad adbhutam apaśyāma droṇasyācāryakaṃ yudhi ||
yatamāno yuvā nainaṃ pratyavidhyad yad arjunaḥ ||
kṣarann iva mahāmegho vāridhārāḥ sahasraśaḥ ||
droṇameghaḥ pārthaśailaṃ vavarṣa śaravṛṣṭibhiḥ ||
arjunaḥ śaravarṣaṃ tad brahmāstreṇaiva māriṣa ||
pratijagrāha tejasvī bāṇair bāṇān viśātayan ||
That wondrous thing we beheld — Drona's mastery as teacher in the battle — that the striving youth, Arjuna himself, did not pierce him back. Like a great cloud pouring down streams of water by the thousand, the Drona-cloud rained showers of arrows upon the Partha-mountain. That shower of arrows Arjuna, radiant, received with the weapon of Brahma alone, O worthy one, shattering arrows with arrows.
58a229c66e5e · published Jul 19, 2026, 3:45:02 PM UTC
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Sanjaya himself marvels: "droṇasya ācāryakam ... adbhutam," the teacher's mastery is such that even Arjuna cannot pierce him in return. In the pupil the glory of the teacher shines: Drona's unsurpassed skill is the honor of his own teaching. The image "droṇameghaḥ pārthaśailam," Drona-cloud and Partha-mountain, paints them as equals. The verse teaches that a teacher's greatness is not diminished by the strength of his pupil but confirmed by it: that Arjuna is the foremost of archers is itself the highest praise of Drona. The teacher's imperviousness before his own great pupil reveals the fullness of the mastery he himself cultivated.