द्रोणेन वार्यमाणास् ते स्वयं तव सुतेन च ॥
न शक्यन्ते महाराज योधा वारयितुं तदा ॥
सा पाण्डुपुत्रस्य शरैर् दार्यमाणा महाचमूः ॥
तमसा संवृते लोके व्यद्रवत् सर्वतोमुखी ॥
उत्सृज्य शतशो वाहांस् तत्र के चिन् नराधिपाः ॥
प्राद्रवन्त महाराज भयाविष्टाः समन्ततः ॥
droṇena vāryamāṇās te svayaṃ tava sutena ca ||
na śakyante mahārāja yodhā vārayituṃ tadā ||
sā pāṇḍuputrasya śarair dāryamāṇā mahācamūḥ ||
tamasā saṃvṛte loke vyadravat sarvatomukhī ||
utsṛjya śataśo vāhāṃs tatra ke cin narādhipāḥ ||
prādravanta mahārāja bhayāviṣṭāḥ samantataḥ ||
Restrained by Drona and by your own son, the warriors could not then be held back, O great king. That host, torn apart by the arrows of Pandu's son -- the vast army -- when the world was covered in darkness, fled in every direction. Having cast off their horses by the hundreds, certain lords of men there took to flight, O great king, seized by fear from every quarter.
3d72f70178d8 · published Jul 19, 2026, 4:40:45 PM UTC
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The chapter closes with an image of total collapse: neither Drona nor Duryodhana can hold their own men, and kings, abandoning their horses, flee into the dark. It is telling that the leaders, on whose example the army's steadfastness rests, are the first to yield to fear: when the lord grows timid, the host too falls apart. The verse teaches that an army holds not by numbers but by spirit, and once courage forsakes its commanders, no skill of generalship can gather the fleeing back.