ताम् अस्य लघुतां द्रोणः समवेक्ष्य विशां पते ॥
प्रहस्य सहसाविध्यद् विंशत्या शिनिपुंगवम् ॥
पुनः पञ्चाशतेषूणां शतेन च समार्पयत् ॥
लघुतां युयुधानस्य लाघवेन विशेषयन् ॥
समुत्पतन्ति वल्मीकाद् यथा क्रुद्धा महोरगाः ॥
तथा द्रोणरथाद् राजन्न् उत्पतन्ति तनुच्छिदः ॥
tām asya laghutāṃ droṇaḥ samavekṣya viśāṃ pate ||
prahasya sahasāvidhyad viṃśatyā śinipuṃgavam ||
punaḥ pañcāśateṣūṇāṃ śatena ca samārpayat ||
laghutāṃ yuyudhānasya lāghavena viśeṣayan ||
samutpatanti valmīkād yathā kruddhā mahoragāḥ ||
tathā droṇarathād rājann utpatanti tanucchidaḥ ||
Having noticed that lightness of hand, O lord of peoples, Drona, smiling, at once pierced the bull of Shini's line with twenty arrows; then again with fifty arrows and with a hundred he showered him, surpassing Yuyudhana's swiftness with his own agility. As enraged great serpents fly up from an anthill, so from Drona's chariot, O king, fly up the flesh-rending arrows.
f9d977dc669f · published Jul 19, 2026, 4:08:02 PM UTC
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Drona, "lāghavena viśeṣayan," surpasses him in agility: years have not stripped the master of his primacy in the art. His arrows are "valmīkāt… mahoragāḥ," like serpents from an anthill. It is telling that skill honed over decades remains unsurpassed. The verse teaches that mature art, ripened by long labor, outdoes even brilliant youth: the teacher's agility, gathered over years, prevails where equals in valor meet.