Дрона
यत्र ते बहवस् तात कुरवः पर्यवस्थिताः ॥
सेनां दुरोदरं विद्धि शरान् अक्षान् विशां पते ॥
ग्लहं च सैन्धवं राजन्न् अत्र द्यूतस्य निश्चयः ॥
सैन्धवे हि महाद्यूतं समासक्तं परैः सह ॥
अत्र सर्वे महाराज त्यक्त्वा जीवितम् आत्मनः ॥
सैन्धवस्य रणे रक्षां विधिवत् कर्तुम् अर्हथ ॥
तत्र नो ग्लहमानानां ध्रुवौ तात जयाजयौ ॥
yatra te bahavas tāta kuravaḥ paryavasthitāḥ ||
senāṃ durodaraṃ viddhi śarān akṣān viśāṃ pate ||
glahaṃ ca saindhavaṃ rājann atra dyūtasya niścayaḥ ||
saindhave hi mahādyūtaṃ samāsaktaṃ paraiḥ saha ||
atra sarve mahārāja tyaktvā jīvitam ātmanaḥ ||
saindhavasya raṇe rakṣāṃ vidhivat kartum arhatha ||
tatra no glahamānānāṃ dhruvau tāta jayājayau ||
"Where those many Kurus, O dear one, stand [around] — know the army [to be] the gaming board, the arrows [to be] the dice, O lord of peoples, and the stake — the Sindhu king, O king; here [lies] the outcome of the game. For on the Sindhu king indeed a great game is locked [with] the enemies; here all, O great king, having given up their own lives, ought to carry out the protection of the Sindhu king in battle as is proper."
b706465e74b3 · published Jul 19, 2026, 4:17:33 PM UTC
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Drona completes the image: the army is the "durodara", the gaming board; the arrows are the "akṣa", the dice; Jayadratha is the "glaha", the stake. The whole war is gathered into a single fateful round. It is telling that a dishonest game has turned into a game of life and death. The verse teaches that what is begun in falsehood is played out to the end at the cost of lives: what began as the sport of deceit turns into a stake paid in blood, and for the dice once cast, men now pay with their very lives.