Shloka 103
यच्छुत्वा निहतं द्रोणं शतधा न विदीर्यते । मैं तो दैवको ही श्रेष्ठ मानता हूँ। पुरुषार्थ तो अनर्थका ही कारण है। निश्चय ही मेरा यह अत्यन्त सुदृढ़ हृदय लोहेका बना हुआ है, जिससे द्रोणाचार्यको मारा गया सुनकर भी इसके सौ टुकड़े नहीं हो जाते
yac chrutvā nihataṃ droṇaṃ śatadhā na vidīryate | mayā tu daivakaṃ śreṣṭhaṃ manyate | puruṣārthaḥ tv anarthasyaiva kāraṇam | niścayaṃ hi mama etad atyanta-sudṛḍhaṃ hṛdayaṃ lohakena kṛtaṃ, yena droṇācāryaṃ hataṃ śrutvāpi na śatadhā bhidyate |
Dhṛtarāṣṭra said: “Hearing that Droṇa has been slain, my heart does not split into a hundred pieces. I regard fate alone as supreme; human effort seems only a cause of calamity. Surely this heart of mine is exceedingly hard—made of iron—for even on hearing that Droṇācārya has been killed, it does not break into a hundred fragments.”
धृतराष्ट उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds the tension between daiva (destiny) and puruṣārtha (human agency). Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s fatalistic conclusion—treating fate as supreme and effort as a source of ruin—reveals a moral and psychological retreat from responsibility, a recurring ethical problem in the epic’s portrayal of rulers who rationalize outcomes instead of owning choices.
In the Drona Parva, news reaches Dhṛtarāṣṭra that Droṇa, the Kaurava commander and revered teacher, has been killed. Dhṛtarāṣṭra expresses astonishment at his own emotional numbness: despite the magnitude of the loss, his heart does not ‘shatter,’ and he interprets this through a fatalistic lens, praising destiny over human endeavor.