Shloka 11
शोणैह्हये रुक्मरथो महात्मा द्रोणो धनुष्पाणिरदीनसत्त्व: । आस्ते गुरु: प्रायश: सर्वराज्ञां पश्चाच्च भूमीन्द्र इवाभियाति,उनके पीछे प्रायः समस्त राजाओंके गुरु, उदार हृदयवाले महामना द्रोणाचार्य हाथमें धनुष लिये लाल घोड़ोंसे जुते हुए सुवर्णमय रथमें बैठकर भूमिपालकी भाँति युद्धके लिये जा रहे थे
sañjaya uvāca |
śoṇaiḥ-haye rukma-ratho mahātmā droṇo dhanuṣ-pāṇir adīna-sattvaḥ |
āste guruḥ prāyaśaḥ sarva-rājñāṃ paścāc ca bhūmīndra ivābhiyāti ||
Sañjaya said: The great-souled Droṇa—undaunted in spirit, bow in hand—sat in a golden chariot yoked with chestnut horses. As the preceptor of nearly all the kings, he advanced behind them toward the battle, like a sovereign protector moving to war. The verse underscores the moral weight of a teacher entering combat: Droṇa’s authority as guru and his personal valor are set within the tragic duty-bound momentum of the Kurukṣetra war.
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.