Shloka 27
कृपोपदेशः — द्रौणेरनिद्रा च
Kṛpa’s Counsel and Drauṇi’s Sleepless Resolve
'ट्रोणाचार्य धृष्टद्युम्नके हाथसे मारे गये” यह बात जब मैं पांचालोंके मुखसे सुनता आ रहा हूँ, तब धृष्टद्युम्नका वध किये बिना जीवित नहीं रह सकता ।।
droṇācāryaḥ dhṛṣṭadyumnena haste mārītaḥ—iti vārttāṃ yadāhaṃ pañcālānāṃ mukhāt śṛṇomi, tadā dhṛṣṭadyumnasya vadhaṃ kṛtvā vinā jīvituṃ na śaknomi. sa me pitur vadhād vadhyaḥ, pañcālā ye ca saṅgatāḥ; vilāpo bhagnasakthasya yastu rājño mayā śrutaḥ.
Kripa said: “Ever since I have been hearing from the mouths of the Panchalas that ‘Drona, our teacher, was slain by Dhrishtadyumna’s own hand,’ I cannot go on living unless I kill Dhrishtadyumna. He is to be slain by me for the murder of my father-figure (my revered teacher), and so too are the Panchalas who stood with him. For I have heard the lament of the king, broken in spirit, and that grief demands retribution.”
कृप उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds the moral tension between personal loyalty and grief-driven vengeance: Kripa frames retaliation as a duty arising from the killing of a revered elder (Drona), showing how war ethics can be overtaken by the demand for retribution.
In the Sauptika Parva, after the Kurus’ defeat, Kripa speaks among the remaining Kaurava allies and declares that he cannot live without killing Dhrishtadyumna, whom he holds responsible for Drona’s death, and he extends blame to the Panchalas who supported that act.