Shloka 87

Devanagari script

द्रोणे तु निहते वीरे रथव्याप्रे नरर्षभे । के वा मुखमनीकानामासन्‌ संजय भागश:,संजय! रथियोंमें सिंह नरश्रेष्ठ वीरवर द्रोणाचार्यके मारे जानेपर कौन-कौनसे वीर सेनाओंके मुख (अग्रभाग) की रक्षा करते रहे?

Transliteration

droṇe tu nihate vīre rathavyāpre nararṣabhe | ke vā mukham anīkānām āsan sañjaya bhāgaśaḥ ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana said: “When the heroic Droṇa—foremost among chariot-warriors and a bull among men—had been slain, who then, O Sañjaya, in their respective divisions, stood at the front of the armies and protected the vanguard?”

Word by Word

द्रोणेin/when (regarding) Droṇa

तुbut/indeed

निहतेwhen slain

वीरेin the hero (Droṇa)

रथव्याप्रेin the chariot-tiger (great chariot-warrior)

नरर्षभेin the bull among men (best of men)

केwho (which persons)

वाor/indeed

मुखम्front/face (vanguard)

अनीकानाम्of the armies/divisions

आसन्were

संजयO Sañjaya

भागशःseverally/part by part

संजयO Sañjaya

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Sañjaya

Droṇa (Droṇācārya)

anīka (army divisions/vyūha units)

mukha (vanguard/front line)

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 a dharmic and strategic concern: after the fall of a principal commander (Droṇa), the army’s moral and tactical stability depends on who assumes responsibility for protecting the front line. It underscores leadership as a duty in moments of collective peril.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana, narrating to Janamejaya, poses (to Sañjaya within the recounted dialogue) a question about the Kaurava forces: once Droṇa has been killed, which warriors, division by division, took position at the army’s forefront to guard and lead the battle-array.