प्रत्याश्वस्तस् ततो द्रोणो धनुर् गृह्य महाबलः ॥
शरैर् वैतस्तिकै राजन् नित्यम् आसन्नयोधिभिः ॥
योधयाम् आस समरे धृष्टद्युम्नं महारथम् ॥
ते हि वैतस्तिका नाम शरा आसन्नयोधिनः ॥
द्रोणस्य विदिता राजन् धृष्टद्युम्नम् अवाक्षिपन् ॥
स वध्यमानो बहुभिः सायकैस् तैर् महाबलः ॥
अवप्लुत्य रथात् तूर्णं भग्नवेगः पराक्रमी ॥
आरुह्य स्वरथं वीरः प्रगृह्य च महद् धनुः ॥
विव्याध समरे द्रोणं धृष्टद्युम्नो महारथः ॥
pratyāśvastas tato droṇo dhanur gṛhya mahābalaḥ ||
śarair vaitastikai rājan nityam āsannayodhibhiḥ ||
yodhayām āsa samare dhṛṣṭadyumnaṃ mahāratham ||
te hi vaitastikā nāma śarā āsannayodhinaḥ ||
droṇasya viditā rājan dhṛṣṭadyumnam avākṣipan ||
sa vadhyamāno bahubhiḥ sāyakais tair mahābalaḥ ||
avaplutya rathāt tūrṇaṃ bhagnavegaḥ parākramī ||
āruhya svarathaṃ vīraḥ pragṛhya ca mahad dhanuḥ ||
vivyādha samare droṇaṃ dhṛṣṭadyumno mahārathaḥ ||
Coming to himself, Drona, the mighty one, taking up his bow, with close-combat arrows, O king, ever fit for close combat -- for they are called "vaitastika", arrows of close combat, known only to Drona, O king -- drove Dhrishtadyumna back. He, struck by many of those shafts, the mighty one, his onrush broken, the valorous one, swiftly leapt down from Drona's chariot; mounting his own chariot, the hero, and taking up his great bow, Dhrishtadyumna, the great chariot-warrior, struck Drona in the fight.
acf95553b474 · publicado 19 jul 2026, 16:08:02 UTC
Disponible enRUENPasa de verso en verso con
Drona saves himself by a special art -- "vaitastika", close-combat arrows known to him alone: mastery preserves the master in extremity. It is telling that the appointed hour has not yet struck, and fate withholds the resolution. The verse teaches that what is foreordained comes to pass in its own time, not before: even the instrument of fate is powerless to hasten what is destined, and one appointed to fall later is spared now -- for it is not human impulse but the higher order that leads events to their hour.