विमुक्तौ च महात्मानौ दृष्ट्वा द्रौणिः सुदुःखितः ॥
मुहूर्तं चिन्तयाम् आस किं त्व् एतद् इति मारिष ॥
चिन्तयित्वा तु राजेन्द्र ध्यानशोकपरायणः ॥
निःश्वसन् दीर्घम् उष्णं च विमनाश् चाभवत् तदा ॥
ततो द्रौणिर् धनुर् न्यस्य रथात् प्रस्कन्द्य वेगितः ॥
धिग् धिक् सर्वम् इदं मिथ्येत्य् उक्त्वा संप्राद्रवद् रणात् ॥
vimuktau ca mahātmānau dṛṣṭvā drauṇiḥ suduḥkhitaḥ ||
muhūrtaṃ cintayām āsa kiṃ tv etad iti māriṣa ||
cintayitvā tu rājendra dhyānaśokaparāyaṇaḥ ||
niḥśvasan dīrgham uṣṇaṃ ca vimanāś cābhavat tadā ||
tato drauṇir dhanur nyasya rathāt praskandya vegitaḥ ||
dhig dhik sarvam idaṃ mithyety uktvā saṃprādravad raṇāt ||
And seeing the two great souls delivered, Drauni, greatly grieved, pondered for a moment: "What is this?" — O worthy one. Having pondered, O lord of kings, given over to brooding and grief, sighing long and hot, he grew dejected then. Then Drauni, laying down his bow, leaping swiftly from his chariot, cried, "Shame, shame! All of this is vain!" — and fled from the battle.
ba224ea301ca · published Jul 19, 2026, 5:12:46 PM UTC
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Ashvatthaman, seeing his enemies unharmed despite every weapon, casts down his bow in despair, crying, "All is vain!" It is telling that the collapse of his confidence crushes him more than any wound could: what breaks is not the body but faith in one's own power. The verse teaches that the hardest defeat is not that of weapons but of self-assurance; and one who sees the powerlessness of what he trusted learns a bitter truth about the limits of his own strength — the first step toward another, higher knowledge.