Shloka 15
Droṇa-parva Adhyāya 96: Sātyaki’s Line-Penetration, Encirclement, and Advance toward Arjuna
नादास्यच्चेद् वरं महां भवान् पाण्डवनिग्रहे । नावारयिष्यं गच्छन्तमहं सिन्धुपतिं गृहान्,त्वरन्नेकरथेनैव समेत्य द्रोणमब्रवीत् । संजय कहते हैं--राजन्! तदनन्तर जब कुन्तीकुमार अर्जुन सिन्धुराज जयद्रथका वध करनेकी इच्छासे द्रोणाचार्य और कृतवर्माका दुस्तर सेना-व्यूह भेदन करके आपकी सेनामें प्रविष्ट हो गये और सव्यसाची अर्जुनके हाथसे जब काम्बोजराजकुमार सुदक्षिण तथा पराक्रमी श्रुतायुध मार दिये गये तथा जब सारी सेनाएँ नष्ट-भ्रष्ट होकर चारों ओर भाग खड़ी हुईं, उस समय अपनी सम्पूर्ण सेनामें भगदड़ मची देख आपका पुत्र दुर्योधन बड़ी उतावलीके साथ एकमात्र रथके द्वारा द्रोणाचार्यके पास गया और उनसे मिलकर इस प्रकार बोला-- “यदि आप मुझे अर्जुनको रोके रखनेका वर न देते तो मैं अपने घरको जाते हुए सिन्धुराज जयद्रथको कभी मना नहीं करता
sañjaya uvāca |
na dāsyac ced varaṁ mahān bhavān pāṇḍava-nigrahe |
na avārayiṣyaṁ gacchantam ahaṁ sindhu-patiṁ gṛhān, tvaran eka-rathenaiva sametya droṇam abravīt ||
Sañjaya said: “O King! If you had not granted me that great boon—namely, the restraining of the Pāṇḍavas—then I would never have stopped the lord of Sindhu (Jayadratha) as he was going home.” Seeing the rout in his entire army, your son, in great haste, went alone in a single chariot to Droṇa, met him, and spoke these words.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how a granted boon or strategic commitment can bind leaders to consequential choices: Duryodhana frames his earlier decision to restrain Jayadratha as compelled by a promised military advantage (checking the Pāṇḍavas). It raises an ethical tension between personal judgment and obligations created by alliances, favors, and war-time promises.
After the army is thrown into disorder, Duryodhana urgently goes alone in a single chariot to Droṇa and begins speaking. He argues that if the king had not given him the ‘great boon’ of restraining the Pāṇḍavas, he would not have stopped Jayadratha from leaving for home—setting up the context for Duryodhana’s appeal to Droṇa amid the crisis.