तं वै विंशतिसाहस्राः पाञ्चालानां नरर्षभाः ॥
तथा चरन्तं संग्रामे सर्वतो व्यकिरञ् शरैः ॥
ततः प्रादुष्करोद् द्रोणो ब्राह्मम् अस्त्रं परंतपः ॥
वधाय तेषां शूराणां पाञ्चालानाम् अमर्षितः ॥
ततो व्यरोचत द्रोणो विनिघ्नन् सर्वसोमकान् ॥
शिरांस्य् अपातयच् चापि पाञ्चालानां महामृधे ॥
तथैव परिघाकारान् बाहून् कनकभूषणान् ॥
ते वध्यमानाः समरे भारद्वाजेन पार्थिवाः ॥
मेदिन्याम् अन्वकीर्यन्त वातनुन्ना इव द्रुमाः ॥
taṃ vai viṃśatisāhasrāḥ pāñcālānāṃ nararṣabhāḥ ||
tathā carantaṃ saṃgrāme sarvato vyakirañ śaraiḥ ||
tataḥ prāduṣkarod droṇo brāhmam astraṃ paraṃtapaḥ ||
vadhāya teṣāṃ śūrāṇāṃ pāñcālānām amarṣitaḥ ||
tato vyarocata droṇo vinighnan sarvasomakān ||
śirāṃsy apātayac cāpi pāñcālānāṃ mahāmṛdhe ||
tathaiva parighākārān bāhūn kanakabhūṣaṇān ||
te vadhyamānāḥ samare bhāradvājena pārthivāḥ ||
medinyām anvakīryanta vātanunnā iva drumāḥ ||
His twenty thousand Panchalas, bulls among men, thus roaming through the battle, showered him with arrows from all sides. Then Drona, in his indignation, manifested the weapon of brahma, scorcher of foes, for the slaying of those brave Panchalas. Then Drona shone forth, slaying all the Somakas, and made heads fall in the great battle of the Panchalas, and likewise arms shaped like bars, adorned with gold. They, being slain in battle by the son of Bharadvaja, the kings...
6aa282de00be · published Jul 19, 2026, 5:08:17 PM UTC
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Drona, having doubted the news of his son, unleashes the brahmastra upon twenty thousand Panchalas: doubt of the deception restores to him his full power. It is telling that love and hope for a moment made him once again the formidable teacher of old. The verse teaches that while hope lives, the spirit lives too; and a deception not fully believed does not yet strip a man of his strength -- only final despair will break him, and that despair is soon to come from the lips of righteous Yudhishthira.