Mahabharata 7.127.41 — Drona Parva, Adhyaya 127, Shloka 41
दुर्योधन-कर्ण-संवादः
Duryodhana–Karna Dialogue on Vyūha-bheda and Daiva
तमपि प्रहसन् द्रोण: शरैर्निन्ये यमक्षयम् । महाव्यात्रो महारण्ये मृगशावं यथा बली
tam api prahasan droṇaḥ śarair ninye yamākṣayam | mahāvyāghro mahāraṇye mṛgaśāvaṃ yathā balī ||
তাকেও দ্রোণ হাসতে হাসতে শরবৃষ্টিতে যমলোকে পাঠালেন—যেমন বিশাল অরণ্যে বলবান মহাবাঘ হরিণশাবককে ছোঁ মেরে ধরে।
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the moral strain of righteous war: even when action is framed as duty, overwhelming strength can make killing resemble predation. It invites reflection on restraint, proportionality, and the tragic cost of martial excellence when compassion is eclipsed by the necessities of battle.
Sañjaya reports that Droṇa, seemingly unshaken and even smiling, strikes down an opponent with arrows and sends him to Yama’s realm. The poet intensifies the scene through a simile: Droṇa is like a powerful tiger in a vast forest seizing a helpless fawn.
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