Shloka 13
तमधर्मेण धर्मिष्ठं धृष्टद्युम्नेन संयुगे । श्रुत्वा निहतमाचार्यम श्वत्थामा किमब्रवीत्,उसी अअश्वत्थामाने अपने धर्मिष्ठ पिता आचार्य द्रोणको युद्धमें धृष्टद्युम्नके हाथसे अधर्मपूर्वक मारा गया सुनकर क्या कहा?
tam adharmeṇa dharmiṣṭhaṃ dhṛṣṭadyumnena saṃyuge | śrutvā nihitam ācāryam aśvatthāmā kim abravīt ||
Dhṛtarāṣṭra said: “After hearing that the teacher Droṇa—so steadfast in dharma—had been slain in battle by Dhṛṣṭadyumna through unrighteous means, what did Aśvatthāmā say?”
धृतराष्ट उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds the moral rupture between dharma and adharma in war: even a ‘dharmiṣṭha’ teacher can be brought down when ethical boundaries collapse, and the narrative turns to the consequences—especially the son’s response, where grief and perceived injustice can fuel retaliatory adharma.
Dhṛtarāṣṭra asks what Aśvatthāmā said after hearing that his father and preceptor Droṇa was killed in battle by Dhṛṣṭadyumna in an unrighteous manner. The question sets up Aśvatthāmā’s ensuing words and actions in the aftermath of Droṇa’s death.