Shloka 73
Kṛṣṇa-vīrya-kathana
Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s appraisal of Vāsudeva’s deeds
पार्थानां जयकामं तं॑ पुत्राणां मम कण्टकम् । घटोत्कचं महात्मानं कस्तं द्रोणादवारयत्,जो भीमसेनसे तत्काल प्रकट हुआ तथा जिससे मुझे महान् भय बना रहता है, वह महान् बल और पराक्रमसे सम्पन्न मायावी राक्षस वीर घटोत्कच कुन्तीकुमारोंकी विजय चाहता है और मेरे पुत्रोंके लिये कंटक बना हुआ है, उस महाकाय घटोत्कचको द्रोणाचार्यके पास आनेसे किसने रोका?
vaiśampāyana uvāca |
parthānāṁ jayakāmaṁ taṁ putrāṇāṁ mama kaṇṭakam |
ghaṭotkacaṁ mahātmānaṁ kas taṁ droṇād avārayat ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “Who held back that great-souled Ghaṭotkaca from reaching Droṇa? He longs for the Pāṇḍavas’ victory, and to my sons he is a thorn—an ever-present source of fear.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how a single formidable ally, driven by loyalty to a just cause (the Pāṇḍavas’ victory), can become a decisive moral and strategic pressure on the opposing side—so much so that fear and urgency shape their decisions.
The narrator reports a question framed from the Kaurava perspective: Ghaṭotkaca, a powerful and fearsome warrior allied to the Pāṇḍavas, is described as a ‘thorn’ to Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s sons, and the speaker asks who prevented him from reaching Droṇa on the battlefield.