Shloka 12
द्रोणपर्व (अध्याय ११२) — कर्णभीमयोर्युद्धम्, दुर्योधनस्य रक्षणादेशः
Droṇa-parva 112: Karṇa–Bhīma Engagement and Duryodhana’s Protective Order
नरेश्वर! रणक्षेत्रमें पैने बाणोंकी वर्षा करते हुए द्रोणाचार्यको देखकर युयुधानके मुखपर विषाद छा गया ।। तं तु सम्प्रेक्ष्य ते पुत्रा: सैनिकाश्न विशाम्पते । प्रहष्टमणनसो भूत्वा सिंहवद् व्यनदन् मुहुः,प्रजापालक नरेश! उन्हें उस अवस्थामें देखकर आपके पुत्र और सैनिक प्रसन्नचित्त होकर बारंबार सिंहनाद करने लगे
sañjaya uvāca | nareśvara! raṇakṣetre pānaiḥ bāṇaiḥ varṣaṃ kurvāṇaṃ droṇācāryaṃ dṛṣṭvā yuyudhānasya mukhe viṣādaḥ samacchāyata || taṃ tu samprekṣya te putrāḥ sainikāś ca viśāmpate | prahṛṣṭamanaso bhūtvā siṃhavad vyanadan muhuḥ || prajāpālaka nareśa! tān tathāvasthān dṛṣṭvā tava putrāḥ sainikāś ca pramuditacittāḥ san muhur muhuḥ siṃhanādaṃ cakruḥ ||
Sañjaya said: “O king! Seeing Droṇācārya on the battlefield showering sharp arrows, Yuyudhāna’s face was clouded with grief and dejection. But when your sons and their troops beheld him in that state, O lord of men, their minds grew elated; again and again they roared like lions. O protector of the people, they took Droṇa’s fierce display as a sign of advantage, and their exultation shows how war turns prowess into a moral spectacle—one side’s despair becoming the other side’s triumph.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the moral and psychological inversion common in war: the same act of martial prowess (Droṇa’s arrow-storm) produces despair in an opponent (Yuyudhāna) and exhilaration in allies (the Kauravas). It implicitly warns that battlefield success easily becomes a spectacle that inflames pride and hardens hearts, complicating dharmic judgment.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that Droṇa is fiercely attacking, raining sharp arrows. Seeing this, Yuyudhāna (Sātyaki) becomes downcast. In contrast, Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s sons and their troops, encouraged by Droṇa’s display, repeatedly roar like lions in celebration.