Shloka 51
अभश्रृत्थामा हतो ब्रद्यन्निवर्तस्वाहवादिति । नूनं नाश्रद्धद् वाक्यमेष मे पुरुषर्षभ:,वे दोनों इस प्रकार बातें कर ही रहे थे कि भीमसेन बोल उठे--“महाराज! महामना द्रोणके वधका ऐसा उपाय सुनकर मैंने आपकी सेनामें विचरनेवाले मालवनरेश इन्द्रवर्माके अश्वत्थामानामसे विख्यात गजराजको, जो ऐरावतके समान शक्तिशाली था, युद्धमें पराक्रम करके मार डाला। फिर द्रोणाचार्यके पास जाकर कहा--'ब्रह्मन्! अश्व॒त्थामा मारा गया, अब युद्धसे निवृत्त हो जाइये।” परंतु इन पुरुषप्रवर द्रोणने निश्चय ही मेरी बातपर विश्वास नहीं किया है
aśvatthāmā hata iti bruvan nivartasva āhavād iti | nūnaṁ nāśraddhad vākyam eṣa me puruṣarṣabhaḥ ||
Sanjaya said: “Saying, ‘Ashvatthama has been slain,’ I told him, ‘Withdraw from the battle.’ Yet this bull among men—Drona—surely did not place faith in my words.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the moral tension between strategic speech in war and the ethical weight of truthfulness: even when a statement is crafted to influence an outcome, its effectiveness depends on trust, and its moral cost remains a central dharmic concern.
A report is delivered to Drona—‘Ashvatthama has been killed’—with the intent of making him withdraw from fighting. Drona, however, does not accept the claim as credible and does not immediately desist.