सर्वधर्मोपपन्नो ऽयं मम शिष्यश् च पाण्डवः ॥
नायं वक्ष्यति मिथ्येति प्रत्ययं कृतवांस् त्वयि ॥
स सत्यकञ्चुकं नाम प्रविष्टेन ततो ऽनृतम् ॥
आचार्य उक्तो भवता हतः कुञ्जर इत्य् उत ॥
ततः शस्त्रं समुत्सृज्य निर्ममो गतचेतनः ॥
आसीत् स विह्वलो राजन् यथा दृष्टस् त्वया विभुः ॥
sarvadharmopapanno 'yaṃ mama śiṣyaś ca pāṇḍavaḥ ||
nāyaṃ vakṣyati mithyeti pratyayaṃ kṛtavāṃs tvayi ||
sa satyakañcukaṃ nāma praviṣṭena tato 'nṛtam ||
ācārya ukto bhavatā hataḥ kuñjara ity uta ||
tataḥ śastraṃ samutsṛjya nirmamo gatacetanaḥ ||
āsīt sa vihvalo rājan yathā dṛṣṭas tvayā vibhuḥ ||
"'This one is endowed with every dharma, and he is my disciple, the Pandava [Yudhishthira]; he will not speak a falsehood' -- so he placed his trust in you. With a lie clad in the armor of truth [in the guise of plausibility], the Acharya was informed by you: 'slain' -- [murmured softly] 'an elephant.' Then, laying down his weapon, dispassionate, his consciousness gone, he was overcome, O king, stricken, just as you yourself beheld, O lord."
872485328a5b · published Jul 19, 2026, 5:08:17 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
What stings most is the betrayal of trust: Drona believed that his righteous disciple would not lie -- and that very faith became the weapon of his death. The phrase "armor of truth" is telling: the lie was shielded by the semblance of truth, and this is precisely what made it fatal. The verse teaches that betraying trust is the gravest of falsehoods; a deception clothed in the appearance of truth wounds deeper than open enmity, for it kills not only the body but faith itself in what is good.