Shloka 68

द्रोणवध-प्रश्नः

Droṇa’s Fall: Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Inquiry

Devanagari script

योधाश्व भद्रकाराश्न शरदण्डानुदण्डय: । श्वेताण्डा: कुक्कुटाण्डाभा दण्डकेतुं हया&वहन्‌,युद्ध करनेमें समर्थ, कल्याणमय कार्य करनेवाले, सरकण्डेके समान श्वैत- गौर पीठवाले, श्वेत अण्डकोशधारी तथा मुर्गीके अण्डेके समान सफेद घोड़े दण्डकेतुको युद्धस्थलमें ले गये

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca | yodhāśva-bhadrakārāś ca śarad-daṇḍānudaṇḍayaḥ | śvetāṇḍāḥ kukkuṭāṇḍābhā daṇḍaketuṃ hayā avahan ||

Translation

Sañjaya said: The war-trained horses—auspicious in their service—bearing backs pale-white like reeds and marked with bright, egg-white tones, some gleaming like the whiteness of a hen’s egg, carried Daṇḍaketu onto the battlefield.

Word by Word

योधाःwarriors

अश्वभद्रकाराःthose who do auspicious acts for horses / horse-attendants (lit. horse-auspicious-doers)

शरदण्डान्reed-staffs / staffs like reeds

उदण्डयःbearing raised staffs / staff-wielders

श्वेताण्डाःwhite-egg(-like) / having white egg(-shaped) (markings)

कुक्कुटाण्डाभाःresembling a hen’s egg

दण्डकेतुम्Dandकेतु (proper name)

हयाःhorses

अवहन्carried / bore / conveyed

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Daṇḍaketu

horses

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the Mahābhārata’s tendency to frame even war’s machinery within a moral-aesthetic lens: the horses are described as auspicious and well-formed, suggesting order, discipline, and the sense of duty that carries fighters into battle, even amid violence.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya narrates that Daṇḍaketu is being borne into the battle by striking white horses, described with vivid comparisons (reed-like whiteness and egg-like sheen), emphasizing their readiness and the grandeur of the martial scene.