Shloka 2
मानवं वारुणाग्नेयं ब्राह्ममस्त्रं च वीर्यवान् । ऐन्द्रं नारायणं चैव यस्मिन् नित्यं प्रतिष्ठितम्,जिनमें मानव, वारुण, आग्नेय, ब्राह्म, ऐन्द्र और नारायण नामक अस्त्र सदा प्रतिष्ठित थे, उन धर्मात्मा आचार्यको धृष्टद्युम्नद्वारा अधर्मपूर्वक युद्धमें मारा गया सुनकर पराक्रमी अश्वृत्थामाने क्या कहा?
mānavaṁ vāruṇāgneyaṁ brāhmam astraṁ ca vīryavān | aindraṁ nārāyaṇaṁ caiva yasmin nityaṁ pratiṣṭhitam ||
Dhṛtarāṣṭra said: “That mighty one in whom the human weapon, the Varuṇa-weapon, the fire-weapon, the Brahmā-weapon, the Indra-weapon, and the Nārāyaṇa-weapon were ever established—when it was heard that such a righteous Ācārya had been slain in battle by Dhṛṣṭadyumna through an unrighteous stratagem, what did the valiant Aśvatthāmā say?”
धृतराष्ट उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a moral shock: even a preceptor renowned for spiritual merit and mastery of divine weapons can be brought down when warfare abandons righteous norms. It highlights the epic’s tension between martial necessity and dharma, and foreshadows how perceived adharma provokes cycles of vengeance.
Dhṛtarāṣṭra asks Sañjaya to recount Aśvatthāmā’s response upon hearing that Droṇa—described as ever-endowed with many powerful astras—was killed in battle by Dhṛṣṭadyumna through an unrighteous stratagem.