संजय उवाच
रात्रियुद्धे तदा राजन् वर्तमाने सुदारुणे ॥
द्रोणम् अभ्यद्रवन् रात्रौ पाण्डवाः सहसैनिकाः ॥
ततो द्रोणः केकयांश् च धृष्टद्युम्नस्य चात्मजान् ॥
प्रेषयन् मृत्युलोकाय सर्वान् इषुभिर् आशुगैः ॥
तस्य प्रमुखतो राजन् ये ऽवर्तन्त महारथाः ॥
तान् सर्वान् प्रेषयाम् आस परलोकाय भारत ॥
saṃjaya uvāca
rātriyuddhe tadā rājan vartamāne sudāruṇe ||
droṇam abhyadravan rātrau pāṇḍavāḥ sahasainikāḥ ||
tato droṇaḥ kekayāṃś ca dhṛṣṭadyumnasya cātmajān ||
preṣayan mṛtyulokāya sarvān iṣubhir āśugaiḥ ||
tasya pramukhato rājan ye 'vartanta mahārathāḥ ||
tān sarvān preṣayām āsa paralokāya bhārata ||
[Sanjaya:] In the night battle then, o king, ongoing, most terrible, the Pandavas with their armies rushed upon Drona at night. Then Drona sent the Kekayas and the sons of Dhrishtadyumna — all of them — to the world of death with swift arrows. Those maharathas who stood before him, o king — all of them he sent to the other world, o Bharata.
4da103c04a0d · published Jul 19, 2026, 4:31:38 PM UTC
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Even by night Drona is unconquerable — everyone who stands before him he sends to the world of death. It is telling that he strikes down even the sons of Dhrishtadyumna, his future slayer: fate brings their lines together long before the final reckoning. The verse teaches that a teacher's valor does not dim from darkness or the nearness of his own hour; and one who stands against the unconquerable goes to the other world, whatever the darkness around him.