Mahabharata · 7.165.48–49
॥
Devanāgarī
हर्षेण महता युक्तो भारद्वाजे निपातिते ॥
सिंहनादरवं चक्रे भ्रामयन् खड्गम् आहवे ॥
आकर्णपलितः श्यामो वयसाशीतिपञ्चकः ॥
त्वत्कृते व्यचरत् संख्ये स तु षोडशवर्षवत् ॥
Transliteration (IAST)
harṣeṇa mahatā yukto bhāradvāje nipātite ||
siṃhanādaravaṃ cakre bhrāmayan khaḍgam āhave ||
ākarṇapalitaḥ śyāmo vayasāśītipañcakaḥ ||
tvatkṛte vyacarat saṃkhye sa tu ṣoḍaśavarṣavat ||
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
हर्षेण महता युक्तःharṣeṇa mahatā yuktaḥseized by great joy; overcome by great joy
भारद्वाजे निपातितेbhāradvāje nipātitewhen Bharadvaja was felled; when Bharadvaja was slain
सिंहनादरवम् चक्रेsiṃhanādaravam cakrelet out a lion's roar; uttered a lion's cry
भ्रामयन् खड्गम् आहवेbhrāmayan khaḍgam āhavewhirling his sword [in] the battle; brandishing his sword in the fight
आकर्णपलितः श्यामःākarṇapalitaḥ śyāmaḥgray-haired to the ears, swarthy; white-haired to the ears, dark-skinned
वयसा अशीतिपञ्चकःvayasā aśītipañcakaḥeighty-five years of age; eighty-five years old
त्वत्कृते व्यचरत् संख्येtvatkṛte vyacarat saṃkhyefor your sake he ranged [in] the battle; for your sake he roamed the fray
सः तु षोडशवर्षवत्saḥ tu ṣoḍaśavarṣavathe, however -- like a sixteen-year-old; he, however -- as if sixteen years old
Translation
Seized by great joy, when Bharadvaja was felled, he [Dhrishtadyumna] let out a lion's roar, whirling his sword in the battle. Gray-haired to the ears, swarthy, eighty-five years of age, for your sake [o king] he ranged the battle like a sixteen-year-old.
Version
9e0188e3b41c · published Jul 19, 2026, 5:08:17 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Sanjaya's sorrowful reminder: an eighty-five-year-old elder fought "like a sixteen-year-old" -- and fell for another's cause, "for your sake," o Dhritarashtra. Significant is that the youthful vigor of Drona's valor only throws into relief the wrongness of the cause it served. The verse teaches that even the greatest strength, given to an unjust cause, does not save one from an inglorious end; and in the killer's exultation over the fallen elder one hears not the triumph of dharma but the bitterness of this whole fratricide.