Shloka 51
Droṇa’s Conditional Boon: The Plan to Capture Yudhiṣṭhira (द्रोणेन युधिष्ठिरग्रहणोपायः)
तस्मादपरिहार्ये<र्थे सम्प्राप्ते कृच्छू उत्तमे । अपारणीये दुश्निन्त्ये यथाभूत॑ प्रचक्ष्य मे,अतः इस अनिवार्य, अपार, दुश्निन्त्य एवं महान् संकटके प्राप्त होनेपर जो घटना जिस प्रकार हुई हो, वह मुझे बताओ
tasmād aparihārye 'rthe samprāpte kṛcchre uttame | apāraṇīye duścintye yathābhūtaṃ pracakṣya me ||
فلذلك، إذ قد نزل أمرٌ لا مفرّ منه—محنةٌ قصوى لا تُقاس ولا يُستكنه غورها—فأخبرني على وجه الدقّة كيف جرت الوقائع، كما وقعت حقًّا.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even amid overwhelming and morally complex calamity, the narrator is urged to present events truthfully (yathābhūtam). The verse highlights fidelity to fact and responsible testimony as a dharmic obligation in recounting war and its consequences.
A listener asks Vaiśampāyana to describe, without distortion, how a grave and unavoidable crisis unfolded. It functions as a transition into a detailed account of consequential events in the Drona Parva.