Shloka 16
Aśvatthāmā’s Lamentation, Vow of Retaliation, and the Manifestation of the Nārāyaṇāstra (द्रोणपर्व, अध्याय १६६)
यो ददाह शरैद्रोण: पञ्चालानां रथव्रजान् | धूमकेतुरिव क्रुद्ध: कथं मृत्युमुपेयिवान्,जिन आचार्य द्रोणने क्रोधमें भरे हुए अग्निदेवके समान अपने बाणोंकी ज्वालासे पांचाल महारथियोंके समुदायोंकों जलाकर भस्म कर दिया था, वे कैसे मृत्युको प्राप्त हुए?
yo dadāha śarair droṇaḥ pañcālānāṁ rathavrajān | dhūmaketur iva kruddhaḥ kathaṁ mṛtyum upeyivān |
Sañjaya said: “How did Droṇa—who, in wrath like a blazing comet, burned the gathered chariot-hosts of the Pāñcālas with his arrows—come to meet death?”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even the mightiest warrior, capable of ‘burning’ armies through skill and wrath, remains subject to mortality; the verse foregrounds the ethical and existential tension of war—power and prowess do not exempt one from the consequences of fate, time, and dharma.
Sañjaya, narrating the battlefield events to Dhṛtarāṣṭra, expresses astonishment and prompts inquiry: despite Droṇa’s devastating prowess against the Pāñcālas, how did such a formidable commander end up meeting death?