विह्वलं तत् समुद्भ्रान्तं सभयं भारतातुरम् ॥
बलम् आसीत् तदा सर्वम् ऋते द्रोणार्जुनाव् उभौ ॥
ताव् एवास्तां निलयनं ताव् आर्तायनम् एव च ॥
ताव् एवान्ये समासाद्य जग्मुर् वैवस्वतक्षयम् ॥
आविग्नम् अभवत् सर्वं कौरवाणां महद् बलम् ॥
पाञ्चालानां च संसक्तं न प्राज्ञायत किं चन ॥
अन्तकाक्रीडसदृशे भीरूणां भयवर्धने ॥
पृथिव्यां राजवंशानाम् उत्थिते महति क्षये ॥
vihvalaṃ tat samudbhrāntaṃ sabhayaṃ bhāratāturam ||
balam āsīt tadā sarvam ṛte droṇārjunāv ubhau ||
tāv evāstāṃ nilayanaṃ tāv ārtāyanam eva ca ||
tāv evānye samāsādya jagmur vaivasvatakṣayam ||
āvignam abhavat sarvaṃ kauravāṇāṃ mahad balam ||
pāñcālānāṃ ca saṃsaktaṃ na prājñāyata kiṃ cana ||
antakākrīḍasadṛśe bhīrūṇāṃ bhayavardhane ||
pṛthivyāṃ rājavaṃśānām utthite mahati kṣaye ||
Endowed with pedigree, courage, and strength, horses resembling elephants [drew the chariots]. That army, bewildered, reeling, in fear, worn down — the whole army was then like this, except the two, Drona and Arjuna. Those two alone were a refuge, they alone were also a shelter; and others, having attacked those two, went to the abode of Vaivasvata [Yama]. Everything was thrown into turmoil — the great army of the Kauravas and of the Panchalas, locked together; nothing at all could be discerned in a battle resembling the playground of Antaka, increasing the fear of the timid.
ab3528b99413 · published Jul 19, 2026, 5:08:17 PM UTC
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Amid the universal panic only two — Drona and Arjuna — stand as "refuge and shelter." It is telling that each is the support of his own side, and both are unshaken. The verse teaches that in an hour of general fear an army holds together through a few steadfast men: where all have faltered, the unwavering become a refuge; and the worth of such men lies in this, that in them, as in a rock amid a storm, thousands of the shaken find their footing.