तथा द्रोणं महेष्वासं निघ्नन्तं शात्रवान् रणे ॥
धृष्टद्युम्नो ऽथ पाञ्चाल्यो हृष्टरूपम् अवारयत् ॥
तथान्यान् पाण्डुपुत्राणां समायातान् महारथान् ॥
तावका रथिनो राजन् वारयाम् आसुर् ओजसा ॥
गजारोहा गजैस् तूर्णं संनिपत्य महामृधे ॥
योधयन्तः स्म दृश्यन्ते शतशो ऽथ सहस्रशः ॥
निशीथे तुरगा राजन्न् आद्रवन्तः परस्परम् ॥
समदृश्यन्त वेगेन पक्षवन्त इवाद्रयः ॥
tathā droṇaṃ maheṣvāsaṃ nighnantaṃ śātravān raṇe ||
dhṛṣṭadyumno 'tha pāñcālyo hṛṣṭarūpam avārayat ||
tathānyān pāṇḍuputrāṇāṃ samāyātān mahārathān ||
tāvakā rathino rājan vārayām āsur ojasā ||
gajārohā gajais tūrṇaṃ saṃnipatya mahāmṛdhe ||
yodhayantaḥ sma dṛśyante śataśo 'tha sahasraśaḥ ||
niśīthe turagā rājann ādravantaḥ parasparam ||
samadṛśyanta vegena pakṣavanta ivādrayaḥ ||
And Drona, the great bowman, who was slaying enemies in battle, there Dhrishtadyumna the Panchala restrained, joyful of face. And likewise other champions among the sons of Pandu, great warriors advancing, your charioteers, O king, restrained by might. Riders of elephants, mounted on elephants, having swiftly met in the great melee, were seen fighting by hundreds and thousands. At midnight the horses, O king, rushing at one another, were seen in swift motion, like winged mountains.
4b9c1c1c4c0e · published Jul 19, 2026, 4:40:46 PM UTC
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Dhrishtadyumna — the one alone fated to slay Drona — stands against him "joyful of face": the killer and the doomed already have their paths joined here. It is telling how the charging horses are likened to winged mountains: mass that has gained an impossible lightness. The verse teaches that in the hour of great deeds even the ordinary is transfigured, as though earthbound things had grown wings; and the meeting of those destined for the roles of executioner and victim is a quiet turn of fate's wheel amid the roar of battle.