Shloka 43
हते विराटे द्रपदे केकयेषु तथैव च,विराट, द्रुपद, केकय, चेदि, मत्स्य और पांचाल योद्धाओं तथा राजा द्रुपदके तीनों वीर पौत्रोंके मारे जानेपर द्रोणाचार्यका वह कर्म देखकर क्रोध और दुःखसे भरे हुए महामनस्वी धष्टद्युम्नने रथियोंके बीचमें इस प्रकार शपथ खायी
sañjaya uvāca | hate virāṭe drapade kekayeṣu tathaiva ca, virāṭa-drupada-kekaya-cedi-matsya-pāñcāla yoddhāṇāṁ tathā rājñaḥ drupadasya trayo vīra-pautrāḥ hata iti dṛṣṭvā droṇācāryasya tat karma | krodha-duḥkha-samāviṣṭo mahāmanā dhṛṣṭadyumno rathināṁ madhye evaṁ śapathaṁ cakāra ||
Sañjaya said: When Virāṭa and Drupada had been slain, and likewise the Kekayas, and when the warriors of Virāṭa, Drupada, the Kekayas, the Cedis, the Matsyas, and the Pāñcālas had been killed—together with the three heroic grandsons of King Drupada—Dhṛṣṭadyumna, high-souled and overwhelmed by anger and grief at witnessing that deed of Droṇācārya, took a solemn vow in the midst of the chariot-warriors.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how the shock of mass death in war can transform grief into a binding vow. Ethically, it points to the dangerous cycle where personal loss and anger intensify retaliation, even among those who consider themselves high-minded, thereby escalating violence and narrowing moral judgment.
Sanjaya reports that after Virata, Drupada, many allied warriors (Kekaya, Cedi, Matsya, Panchala), and Drupada’s three grandsons are killed, Dhṛṣṭadyumna—seeing Drona’s action—becomes filled with anger and sorrow and publicly takes an oath among the chariot-warriors, setting up his next decisive move in the battle.