ततश् चतुर्दिशं सैन्यैर् द्रुपदस्याभिसंवृतः ॥
निर्दहन् क्षत्रियव्रातान् द्रोणः पर्यचरद् रणे ॥
हत्वा विंशतिसाहस्रान् क्षत्रियान् अरिमर्दनः ॥
दशायुतानि तीक्ष्णाग्रैर् अवधीद् विशिखैः शितैः ॥
सो ऽतिष्ठद् आहवे यत्तो विधूम इव पावकः ॥
क्षत्रियाणाम् अभावाय ब्राह्मम् आत्मानम् आस्थितः ॥
tataś caturdiśaṃ sainyair drupadasyābhisaṃvṛtaḥ ||
nirdahan kṣatriyavrātān droṇaḥ paryacarad raṇe ||
hatvā viṃśatisāhasrān kṣatriyān arimardanaḥ ||
daśāyutāni tīkṣṇāgrair avadhīd viśikhaiḥ śitaiḥ ||
so 'tiṣṭhad āhave yatto vidhūma iva pāvakaḥ ||
kṣatriyāṇām abhāvāya brāhmam ātmānam āsthitaḥ ||
Then, surrounded on all four sides by Drupada's armies, incinerating the hosts of kshatriyas, Drona roamed through the battle. Having slain twenty thousand kshatriyas, the crusher of foes slew yet a hundred thousand more with keen, sharp arrows. He stood in the fight, exerting himself, like a smokeless fire, having taken his stand in his brahmanical self for the extermination of the kshatriyas.
a871cfb108f8 · प्रकाशित 19 जुल॰ 2026, 5:08:17 pm UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
Drona appears as a "smokeless fire" — pure, unstoppable incineration: an image of terrible grandeur at the very edge of ruin. It is telling how bitter the contradiction — his "brahmanical essence" turned "toward the extermination of kshatriyas": the one whose calling was to teach and to protect has become an instrument of slaughter. The verse teaches that a gift placed in the service of war turns against its own nature; and the spectacle of this power is no triumph but an omen of downfall, for strength untrue to its purpose prepares its own end.