Shloka 59

Chapter 47: Krauñca-vyūha Deployment and Conch-Signals

Kaurava–Pāṇḍava Readiness

Devanagari script

द्रोण उवाच ध्रुवस्ते विजयो राजन्‌ यस्य मन्त्री हरिस्तव । अहं त्वामभिजानामि रणे शत्रून्‌ विमोक्ष्यसे

Transliteration

droṇa uvāca | dhruvas te vijayo rājan yasya mantrī haris tava | ahaṃ tvām abhijānāmi raṇe śatrūn vimokṣyase |

Translation

Droṇa said: “O King, your victory is assured, for Hari (Śrī Kṛṣṇa) himself is your counsellor. I know your true mettle; in battle you will release your enemies from life.”

Word by Word

• {'droṇa uvāca': 'Droṇa said', 'dhruvaḥ': 'fixed, certain, assured', 'te': 'your', 'vijayaḥ': 'victory', 'rājan': 'O king', 'yasya': 'for whom / whose', 'mantrī': 'counsellor, minister, advisor', 'hariḥ': 'Hari

• an epithet of Viṣṇu/Kṛṣṇa', 'tava': 'your', 'aham': 'I', 'tvām': 'you', 'abhijānāmi': 'I know, recognize, understand (well)', 'raṇe': 'in battle', 'śatrūn': 'enemies', 'vimokṣyase': 'you will free/release

Speaker

द्रोण उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Droṇa
• Hari (Śrī Kṛṣṇa)
• Rājan (the king addressed)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Victory is portrayed as ‘certain’ when guided by righteous, divinely-aligned counsel (Hari as minister). At the same time, the verse confronts the moral gravity of kṣatriya warfare: success may entail killing, euphemistically expressed as ‘releasing’ enemies from life.

What is happening in the narrative?

Droṇa addresses a king on the battlefield, assuring him of inevitable victory because Kṛṣṇa is his advisor, and predicting that he will strike down his foes in the coming combat.