Shloka 11
Sainyavinyāsa–Lakṣaṇa (Disposition of Armies and Battlefield Omens) | सैन्यविन्यास–लक्षणम्
शोणैह्हये रुक्मरथो महात्मा द्रोणो धनुष्पाणिरदीनसत्त्व: । आस्ते गुरु: प्रायश: सर्वराज्ञां पश्चाच्च भूमीन्द्र इवाभियाति
sañjaya uvāca |
śoṇaiḥ-haye rukma-ratho mahātmā droṇo dhanuṣ-pāṇir adīna-sattvaḥ |
āste guruḥ prāyaśaḥ sarva-rājñāṃ paścāc ca bhūmīndra ivābhiyāti ||
Sañjaya sprach: Droṇa, der Großgesinnte — unerschrocken, den Bogen in der Hand — saß auf einem goldenen Wagen, bespannt mit kastanienbraunen Pferden. Als Lehrer fast aller Könige rückte er hinter ihnen zur Schlacht vor, wie ein schützender Souverän, der in den Krieg zieht. Der Vers betont das moralische Gewicht eines Lehrers im Kampf: Droṇas Autorität als Guru und seine persönliche Tapferkeit stehen im tragischen, pflichtgetriebenen Sog des Kurukṣetra-Krieges.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical gravity of leadership and instruction: a guru revered by many kings enters the battlefield with courage and regal bearing. It implicitly raises the Mahābhārata’s recurring tension between social role (guru, protector) and the destructive inevitability of war undertaken as perceived duty.
Sañjaya narrates the Kaurava forces moving into battle formation. Droṇācārya, armed with his bow, rides in a golden chariot drawn by chestnut horses, advancing behind the kings—depicted like a bhūmīndra (sovereign) going forth to war.