Shloka 7
Duryodhana Seeks Droṇa’s Counsel; Imperative to Protect Jayadratha; Pāñcāla Assault on Duryodhana
कच्चिद् गाण्डीवज: प्राणस्तथैव भरतर्षभ । मुशिश्व ते यथापूर्व भुजयोश्व॒ बलं तव,“भरतश्रेष्ठ! तुम्हारे गाण्डीव-धनुषकी शक्ति पहले-जैसी ही है न? तुम्हारी मुट्ठी एवं बाहुबल भी पूर्ववत् हैं न?
kaccid gāṇḍīvajaḥ prāṇas tathaiva bharatarṣabha | muṣṭiś ca te yathāpūrvaṃ bhujayoś ca balaṃ tava ||
Sañjaya said: “O bull among the Bharatas, is the life and vigor of your Gāṇḍīva-bearer still the same as before? Are your grip and the strength of your arms also as they were formerly?”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how, in war and moral crisis, outcomes hinge not only on strategy but on the sustained vitality and steadiness of key agents; it also reflects the ruler’s anxious dependence on reports and the fragility of power when one cannot directly see or act.
Sañjaya, narrating the battlefield events to the blind king Dhṛtarāṣṭra, asks whether the ‘Gāṇḍīva-bearer’ (Arjuna) remains as vigorous as before and whether Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s own grip and arm-strength are unchanged—an anxious check on readiness and resolve amid the unfolding conflict.