Shloka 27

Gāndhārī’s Battlefield Survey: The Fallen and the Onset of Funeral Rites (शल्य-भगीरथ-भीष्म-द्रोणादि-दर्शनम्)

Devanagari script

अस्त्रं चतुर्विधं वेद यथैव त्रिदशेश्वर: । भार्गवो वा महावीर्यस्तथा द्रोणो5पि माधव,माधव! जैसे देवराज इन्द्र अथवा महापराक्रमी परशुरामजी चार प्रकारकी अस्त्रविद्याको जानते हैं, उसी प्रकार द्रोणाचार्य भी जानते थे

Transliteration

astraṃ caturvidhaṃ veda yathaiva tridaśeśvaraḥ | bhārgavo vā mahāvīryas tathā droṇo 'pi mādhava ||

Translation

Vaiśaṃpāyana said: “Just as the lord of the gods, Indra, knows the fourfold science of weapons—or as the mighty Bhārgava (Paraśurāma) knows it—so too did Droṇācārya, O Mādhava.”

Word by Word

अस्त्रम्weapon; missile (astra)

चतुर्विधम्fourfold; of four kinds

वेदknows

यथाas; just as

एवindeed; exactly

त्रिदशेश्वरःlord of the thirty (gods), i.e., Indra

भार्गवःBhargava (Parashurama)

वाor

महावीर्यःof great prowess

तथाso; likewise

द्रोणःDrona

अपिalso; even

माधवO Madhava (Krishna)

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Indra (Tridaśeśvara)

Bhārgava (Paraśurāma)

Droṇa (Droṇācārya)

Mādhava (Kṛṣṇa)

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?

Extraordinary skill and power—here, mastery of the fourfold weapon-science—does not automatically serve dharma; its ethical value depends on intention, restraint, and the ends for which it is used. The verse implicitly contrasts divine-level competence with the tragic human outcomes of war.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana, narrating to Janamejaya, highlights Droṇa’s exceptional expertise by comparing him to Indra and Paraśurāma. In the Strī Parva context, such recollections intensify the sense of loss: even the greatest masters of arms became instruments within a catastrophic conflict.