Shloka 346
द्रोणपर्व — अध्याय १६२: प्रातःसंध्यायां युद्धप्रवृत्तिः तथा रजोमेघे संमूढता
द्रोणं हत्वा किल मया हन्तव्यस्त्वं सुदुर्मते । “दुर्बृद्धि ब्राह्मण! क्या तू मेरी प्रतिज्ञा और उत्पत्तिका वृत्तान्त नहीं जानता? निश्चय ही, मुझे पहले द्रोणाचार्यका वध करके फिर तेरा विनाश करना है
droṇaṁ hatvā kila mayā hantavyas tvaṁ sudurmate | durbuddhe brāhmaṇa! kiṁ tvaṁ mama pratijñāṁ cotpattikā vṛttāntaṁ na jānāsi? niścayaṁ hi, mayā pūrvaṁ droṇācārya-vadhaṁ kṛtvā paścāt tava vināśaḥ kartavyaḥ |
Sañjaya said: “After killing Droṇa, I am indeed to kill you, O utterly misguided one. ‘Wicked-minded brāhmaṇa! Do you not know my vow and the account of my origin? Surely, I must first bring about Droṇācārya’s death and then accomplish your destruction.’”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage foregrounds the binding force of a pratijñā (solemn vow) in the epic’s moral universe: a warrior frames his intended violence as duty-bound sequence—first fulfilling a pledged objective (Droṇa’s death), then pursuing personal retribution—raising the ethical tension between vowed duty and escalating vengeance.
Within Sañjaya’s narration, a speaker threatens an addressed brāhmaṇa, declaring that he is destined to be killed—but only after Droṇācārya is slain. The speaker invokes his vow and his origin-story as justification, emphasizing a deliberate order of actions in the ongoing Kurukṣetra conflict.