संजय उवाच
अपराह्णे महाराज संग्रामे लोमहर्षणे ॥
पाञ्चालानां कुरूणां च द्रोणे द्यूतम् अवर्तत ॥
पाञ्चाला हि जिघांसन्तो द्रोणं संहृष्टचेतसः ॥
अभ्यवर्षन्त गर्जन्तः शरवर्षाणि मारिष ॥
ततः सुतुमुलस् तेषां संग्रामो ऽवर्तताद्भुतः ॥
पाञ्चालानां कुरूणां च घोरो देवासुरोपमः ॥
saṃjaya uvāca
aparāhṇe mahārāja saṃgrāme lomaharṣaṇe ||
pāñcālānāṃ kurūṇāṃ ca droṇe dyūtam avartata ||
pāñcālā hi jighāṃsanto droṇaṃ saṃhṛṣṭacetasaḥ ||
abhyavarṣanta garjantaḥ śaravarṣāṇi māriṣa ||
tataḥ sutumulas teṣāṃ saṃgrāmo 'vartatādbhutaḥ ||
pāñcālānāṃ kurūṇāṃ ca ghoro devāsuropamaḥ ||
"In the afternoon, O great king, in the battle that raises the hair in dread, around Drona went on a [fateful] game between the Panchalas and the Kurus. For the Panchalas, desiring to kill Drona, with elated spirits, showered him, roaring, with rains of arrows, O venerable one. Then a most tumultuous, wondrous battle arose between the Panchalas and the Kurus — terrible, like a battle of gods and asuras."
eaec2484080a · published Jul 19, 2026, 4:02:22 PM UTC
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"Droṇe dyūtam avartata" — around Drona a game was played: an echo of the dice-game that began the whole quarrel, now transposed into arrows and blood. The stake in this game is the teacher's life, and what is thrown is not dice but showers of arrows. It is telling that the war itself is called a game: its outcome, as in dyūta, hangs on a turn of fortune. The verse teaches that an unrighteous game, once begun, does not end at the gaming table but returns as a field of battle, where the stake is no longer wealth but life itself.